Ondo Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and the 18 elected local government chairmen in the state may be heading for a collision over the control of monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

This comes as the Association for Good Governance Advocacy (AGGA) reinforced its call on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene and enforce financial independence for all 774 local governments across the country.

The group noted that despite the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments, council chairmen in Ondo State still lack full control of their funds.

The group’s intervention comes amid fresh revelations by some council chairmen, who alleged they were compelled to return a large portion of their allocations to the state Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

According to the chairmen, the situation has reduced local government administration in the state to its lowest ebb, with councils unable to embark on meaningful projects or carry out statutory responsibilities because of inadequate funds.

Emphasising defiance of the law, some of the council chairmen, while speaking anonymously, accused the state government of flouting the Supreme Court ruling on full local government autonomy by denying councils access to their statutory allocations.

According to one of the Chairmen, who accused the state government of shortchanging councils, ‘We are only entitled to N4 million monthly from the FAAC funds allocated to us, while the substantial part of our funds is controlled by the state governor.

“You know we are still operating a joint account for the local government funds, and when the FAAC allocation is released, they will disburse what each local government is entitled to, but we are made to return the substantial part of the funds into the Ministry of Local Government account, while we are left with N4 million.

“For instance, in the last FAAC for June, some local governments received N644 million, N590 million, and N405 million. You can verify this from the BudgIT website. So, despite this huge allocation, the chairmen are only entitled to N4 million to run the councils.

“What we learnt was that the reason the state government is still managing our funds is because of some of the local government responsibilities such as primary healthcare, basic education, and the funding of Amotekun, are still currently under the supervision of the state government.”

The chairman, who expressed his frustration, noted that “Even if the state government controls the fund, we should not be left with N4 million. To do what? It is not even enough to run the local government office.

“The main reason President Bola Tinubu approached the Supreme Court for local government autonomy was because of his eagerness to take governance to the grassroots.

“Unfortunately, we are lacking funds despite having ideas to make our people feel the impact of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. We have spent six months in the office, and none of us can boast of any developmental project we have executed.”

When asked if they had formally complained to the governor, given that both sides belong to the same political party, the chairman explained that efforts were ongoing to seek an audience with him.

He added, however, that many of his colleagues were hesitant to push the issue further, fearing they could be labelled as disloyal if they challenged the system too strongly.

He said, “We are not begging for much. If just 20 percent of the money meant for the local governments is released to us, you will see visible changes at the grassroots.

However, the AGGA, in a statement issued and signed by its Coordinator, Mrs. Folakemi Benson, noted that apart from Lagos state, where council chairmen enjoy full autonomy over their funds, no other state in the federation allows local governments total control of the allocations accruing to them from the federation accounts.

Stressing that the lack of independence has stifled development, leaving grassroots communities disconnected from national policies, the group asked the federal government to commence direct payment into local government accounts.

“We are compelled to ask the federal government why it is still delaying the direct payment of local government funds into their respective accounts.

“The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in July 2024 affirmed this autonomy, yet one year later, implementation remains stalled in most states, allowing governors to continue mismanaging the funds.

“Local governments are meant to be the closest tier of governance to the people, delivering essential services like roads, healthcare, education, and sanitation. However, without financial autonomy, they remain crippled, unable to function as intended,” the statement stated.

The group called on President Tinubu to enforce direct allocations to local governments, bypassing state interference, to empower chairmen to deliver on their mandates and revive grassroots governance.

In a swift reaction, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Amidu Takuro, dismissed the allegations that council chairmen are being compelled to surrender their monthly allocations to the ministry.

Takuro described the claims as unfounded, but politically motivated, insisting that there is no secrecy in the system, but said what the state government has been doing for them is a unanimous decision, not something enforced on anybody.

Takuro maintained that the uproar was politically engineered to discredit the administration, saying, “If anybody is not in agreement, they should come up openly. We are all under the same political party, under the leadership of somebody. I doubt if any of them can truly say that.

While stressing that state government decisions on council funds were made openly and with the consent of the chairmen, he said: “there is no secrecy in this system. What the government has been doing for them is a unanimous decision, not something enforced on anybody. The money is in their accounts, and anybody can come and check,”

On claims that councils are restricted to N4 million monthly, the Commissioner said: “that is not true. That claim is unfounded. I will check my record, but it is not correct.” But explained that deductions from allocations were statutory, covering teachers’ salaries, pensions, and other obligations.

Highlighting the government’s efforts, Takuro said over N3.7 billion had been used to clear gratuity arrears for pensioners dating back to 2010.

He also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening grassroots governance, saying: “We are mindful that local governments are the closest to the people, and whatever we can do to make them responsible and responsive to their people, we will do.

“Our vision is to ensure effective and efficient local government administration in Ondo State, where others can even come and emulate.”

It will be recalled that Governor Aiyedatiwa had recently clarified his stance on local government autonomy, stressing that his administration was not opposed to local government autonomy but insisted it must be exercised responsibly and within the constitutional framework.

Meanwhile, the federal government has yet to implement direct transfer of allocations into local government accounts, as disclosed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who attributed the delay to structural issues. (Nigerian Tribune)