Two years after the Supreme Court ordered the direct payment of federal allocations to local government councils, implementation of the landmark financial autonomy judgment remains stalled despite N10.48tn being allocated to the third tier of government within the period.
An analysis of Federation Account Allocation Committee reports, with data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation collated on Monday, showed that local government councils received N10.479tn between the July 2024 and June 2026 FAAC meetings.
The period covered allocations from revenue earned between June 2024 and May 2026 because FAAC distributes the revenue generated in a particular month at the meeting held in the following month. Consequently, June 2024 revenue was shared at the July 2024 meeting, while May 2026 revenue was distributed in June 2026.
The allocations were made amid lingering uncertainty over the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment delivered on July 11, 2024, in the case of the Attorney-General of the Federation v. Attorney-General of Abia State and 35 others, with suit number SC/CV/343/2024.
The apex court ordered the Federal Government to pay allocations standing to the credit of the 774 local government areas directly to their accounts. It also barred state governments from retaining or spending funds allocated to councils and declared the administration of local governments by unelected caretaker committees unconstitutional.
However, nearly two years after the ruling, questions remain over whether federal allocations are being transferred directly to council accounts, whether State Joint Local Government Accounts are still operating and whether local governments have gained practical control over their finances.
The PUNCH analysis showed that allocations to councils rose sharply in the second year after the judgment, but the increase has not been matched by clear evidence of nationwide compliance with the ruling or a visible transformation in grassroots service delivery.
