NULGE protests, alleging Nigerian governors are undermining local governments.

In March 2022, the upper Chamber of the National Assembly approved a bill aimed at granting complete financial and administrative autonomy to local government areas. The legislation sought to amend the constitution, abolishing the state joint local government account and establishing a dedicated account where all allocations due to local government councils from the federation account would be directly deposited.

According to the bill, each local government council was mandated to establish and manage its own designated account, referred to as the Local Government Allocation Account, into which all allocations were to be deposited. The Senate took this step to address the misuse of funds by certain governors who, for personal gain, had hindered the operations of the government closest to the people.

Section 162 of the 1999 constitution outlined a clear formula for allocating funds among the three tiers of government: Federal, State, and Local Governments. Although it allowed for state intermediaries, the state was intended as a conduit for funds to reach local governments.

In 2019, the federal government, through the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), set a deadline for the implementation of a directive to ensure the direct payment of local government allocations to their respective bank accounts, a move opposed by some state governors.

On December 1, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari criticized state governors for allegedly mismanaging local government allocations, highlighting a longstanding issue. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also expressed concerns about constitutional loopholes exploited by governors to impede direct fund allocations to local governments, emphasizing the need for legislative reforms.

Notably, various governors across states have consistently undermined the authority of local government areas, with some even suspending elected local government executives. In response, the 10th Senate, led by Speaker Godswill Akpabio, is taking steps to curb governors’ interference in local government affairs.

The Senate has urged the federal government to halt statutory allocations to local government councils with unelected chairpersons. This move follows a motion by Senator Abba Moro, who argued that funds should not be allocated to states lacking elected local government officials, a practice deemed unconstitutional.

National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) President, Comrade Akeem Ambali, lamented the dire state of local government affairs and advocated for local government autonomy. He criticized governors, including Kayode Fayemi, for obstructing autonomy and called for reforms, such as conducting local government elections through the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and ensuring direct funding from the federal government.

Ambali also urged President Bola Tinubu to support local government development and emphasized the need for the immediate enforcement of Senator Moro’s motion, which advocates withholding allocations from states without elected local government officers. The NULGE President stressed the importance of constitution alteration to ensure direct funding for local governments, asserting that states failing to democratize properly should be denied funding.