The Account-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, have commenced talks on the implementation of the July 11, 2024 Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy as direct allocation disbursement to the 7774 LGAs continues to suffer delay.
In a move to enforce the verdict, the two senior officials have been holding consultations on the modalities for submitting LGAs’ bank accounts for direct payment of council allocation but are reportedly facing challenges identifying LGAs with democratically elected officials.
This was contained in the Federation Account Allocation Committee Technical Sub-Committee meeting minutes obtained by reporters on Sunday.
The minutes, shared by an insider, indicate that only the local government areas in Delta State have submitted their account details to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
It revealed that the submission of account details by the Delta State LGAs was confirmed during the FAAC Technical Sub-Committee meeting held on January 17, 2025, at the Federal Ministry of Finance Headquarters, Abuja.
The document showed that while the OAGF had started receiving account details from various sources, only Delta LGAs had fully submitted their details.
Some LGAs reportedly provided account details directly, while others did so through their state governments.
Despite this progress, discussions on the modalities for submitting the accounts are still ongoing, with consultations with the AGF yet to be concluded.
According to the Accountant-General, “The Office had started receiving account details from various sources; some directly while others were going through the states.
“So far, only local governments in Delta State have provided account details. However, consultation with the Attorney-General of the Federation on the modalities of the submission of the accounts was still ongoing.”
The minutes further indicated that concerns were raised about the legal procedures for submitting these accounts, particularly in relation to constitutional provisions.
The meeting, chaired by the Accountant General, highlighted that the process had encountered challenges, particularly in identifying LGAs with properly elected leadership.
The minutes stated that a key obstacle to implementing the system was determining which local government councils had constitutionally elected chairman.
Madein reportedly noted that this foundational stage remained unclear and that for local governments with duly elected leadership, the question of mechanisms to ensure they receive direct allocations must be addressed.
