Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance has explained why it continues to release monthly allocations from the Federation Account to local government areas under the control of Boko Haram insurgents. There are several of such local councils in the north-eastern states of Borno and Yobe, with some of them reportedly under Boko Haram’s control for over a year. Nigerians have been asking questions as to who gets the money meant for such councils, month after month.

Responding to an enquiry on the issue, Paul C Nwabuikwu, Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, explained that the ministry does not release money directly to local governments but only does so through states, in keeping with constitutional requirements.

Nwabuikwu told News Express: “The ministry has been acting in accordance with the provision of the Nigerian Constitution on the issue; the states have been receiving the local government allocations, as the local governments do not receive money directly from the Federation Account. So the Borno State Government has been collecting the money meant for all the local governments in the state. The same applies to Yobe.”

Nwabuikwu said that it was not for the Ministry of Finance to say what the affected state governments have been doing with such allocations. He advised Nigerians who do not like the present fund allocation system to embark on advocacy to change it as the ministry cannot go beyond the dictates of the Constitution.

News Express quotes the Borno State Government as recently disclosing that only seven out of the 27 local government areas in the state are still under its control, with the remaining 20 since captured by Boko Haram insurgents.

•Photo shows Okonjo-Iweala.