Councils funds and uses

 Ebonyi State Governor Ogbonna Nwifuru recently set a peculiar benchmark for financial accountability in local government administration. He ordered chairmen of the state’s 13 councils to settle all outstanding salaries and pensions of their workers within 24 hours or hand in their resignation. There was no subsequent report of any council chairman obliging his resignation directive, or of salaries and pensions remaining outstanding. So, his bluff – if you call it that – worked.

The Ebonyi governor was reported to have issued the ultimatum on Sunday, 22nd December, at a Christmas party organised for the elderly and widows by the state government in Abakaliki, the state capital. Addressing some 5,000 attendees at the party, he frowned on a situation whereby most local government areas had failed to pay staff salaries for November and December, saying the development was unacceptable. He described delayed payment of salaries and pensions to council workers in the state as worrisome, stressing that such trend contradicted his administration’s commitment to delivering good governance anchored on the people’s charter of needs; and he warned that he would not fold his arms and allow people to sabotage his efforts at executing the social contract with the people.

Nwifuru said: “I heard and I believe it is true that local government staff have not received their November and December salaries. But I have told the Principal Secretary to the Governor and all the council chairmen and coordinators that if by 2 O’clock tomorrow (Monday, 23rd December) all the staff of local government areas including pensioners do not receive their money, all of them should resign. What this means is that they must be in the bank as early as 7 O’clock in the morning with the payment schedules for their November and December salaries, including Christmas bonuses.” He added: “We cannot tolerate any lackadaisical attitude.”

The state numero apologised to council workers over the development, acknowledging that as governor, he has the responsibility to supervise the local government system in the state. He, however, stressed that he was not in custody of council funds. “I am not in charge of local government funds, but I am the one in charge of supervising the administration of local government areas,” he said, adding: “So, when local government chairmen are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, it is my right to discuss with them and advise them when necessary.”

It wasn’t the Ebonyi governor alone who lately had occasion to call out council chairmen over local government finances. Barely a week earlier, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike voiced displeasure over a comment by Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Chairman Christopher Maikalangu that he lacked financial muscle to provide security vehicles for the police, and questioned the council chairman over use of allocations meant for the council.

Speaking at the minister’s presentation of 50 operational vehicles to security agencies in the nation’s capital, Maikalangu had said agencies had been writing him letters requesting provision of security vehicles, but that he did not have the capacity as a council chairman to provide such vehicles. 

When he came up to the podium, Wike described the council chairman’s comment as embarrassing. “I find it very disturbing that a chairman of a council will appear in public and say he has no capacity to give vehicles to security agencies. And then you answer the (designation) chief security officer of your local government. As chairman, every time you go and collect revenue. Where is the money going?,” he queried. “It is very embarrassing to hear you say you cannot build a police station. Security is for all of us. You have a role to play as chairman of the council. When I was chairman of council, I built police stations, I bought vehicles for them, I provided water for them. Security is key. So, if you have no capacity, then what are you doing as council chairman?” he added. 

The punchline in Wike’s comment was his subtle threat of reprisal against Maikalangu: “Thank God, you have told us you have no capacity. We will see what will happen in the next election. You are the one who said so, not me. And luckily, this is a live coverage,” he said.


“How are councils to be held accountable for the exercise of their autonomy without infringing on that autonomy…”


Both Nwifuru and Wike spoke against the backdrop of a recent warning to state governors by the Federal Government against infringing the statutory autonomy of local governments that was confirmed in a recent judgment by the Supreme Court. Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the Federal Government took exception to moves by some states enacting laws directed at circumventing the July 11th verdict of the apex court and would therefore not hesitate to initiate contempt proceedings against such states, while their Attorneys-General might be referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for professional misconduct. 

Speaking in Abuja at the 2024 National Conference of the Abuja chapter of National Association of Judicial Correspondents (NAJUC), the nation’s chief law officer said: “I am aware that some states have embarked on promulgation of legislations which appear to be antithetical to the tenets or tenor of the judgment of the Supreme Court. My simple point is that the states concerned are advised not to tread within the precinct of contempt of court. And my colleagues at the sub-nationals should not also invite the attention of legal practitioners disciplinary committee for misconduct.” He obviously was referring to states that, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict, enacted legislations of their own compelling councils to remit a portion of their federal allocations into a consolidated account controlled by the state government. Those state governments argued, among others, that there are services they jointly undertake with councils, and that there are others they would be forced to fund should councils find themselves insolvent to so do. Besides, they argued, the 1999 Constitution (as Amended) empowers state legislatures to enact laws for administration and financial regulation of local governments.

The Supreme Court had last July, in a suit brought against state governments by the Federal Government, affirmed the financial autonomy of the country’s 774 local governments. The court held that councils should, henceforth, receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation, and that it is illegal and unconstitutional for any governor to receive and withhold funds allocated to councils in his state. The verdict gave a three-month deadline for states in default to conduct elections into their councils, and it empowered the Federal Government to withhold allocations for local governments being administered by caretakers.

Delivering a paper on ‘Aftermath of Supreme Court judgment on Local Government financial autonomy: what next?,’ Fagbemi said: “By the July 11, 2024 judgment of the Supreme Court that granted financial autonomy to local governments in the country, any governor who tampers with the finances of LGAs in his state is seen to have committed a gross misconduct, which is an impeachable offence.” According to him, the apex court’s verdict is intended to liberate local governments from the stranglehold of state governors and promote development at the grassroots.

Many state governors obviously get the message that they cannot meddle in the finances of councils within their respective jurisdiction. Getting councils to be financially responsible in the exercise of their autonomy, however, is a dicey ball game for supervising state administrations to handle. That was apparently what the Ebonyi governor and FCT minister were dealing with. Wike left the matter to the next election. But Nwifuru took a more testy line, because it is debatable what he could have done if the councils didn’t meet up to the mandate of salary payment and their chairmen refused to oblige his directive that they hand in their resignation in lieu. Could he have compelled their resignation, for instance?

True, the constitution empowers state legislatures to enact laws for administration and financial regulation of local governments. But we also understand by a recent verdict of court in Edo State that this power does not involve cutting short the statutory tenure of councils. So, how are councils to be held accountable for the exercise of their autonomy without infringing on that autonomy, short of simply waiting by for another election to come around? This seems a grey area the judiciary may yet need to clarify for effective functioning of councils.

So long a year!

Year 2024 fades away into history as we welcome Year 2025 on board. Here’s wishing all readers of this column a year filled with bouquets of good promises and fulfilling experiences.


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