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Legal practitioner, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), on Friday, advocated for the creation of separate bank accounts for the 774 local government areas in Nigeria to facilitate direct disbursement of their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.
Ozekhome’s call comes following a recent Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments.
The top court’s ruling bars the appointment of an executive committee by the state governor and declares the joint accounts of the state and local governments illegal.
The senior advocate, in a press statement, argued that the creation of individual accounts for each local government would ensure compliance with the Supreme Court ruling and prevent misuse of funds that is often associated with the current system.
He stressed that direct payment of FAAC allocations to local governments would enhance their financial independence and capacity to deliver essential services to their constituents.
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Ozekhome said, “The answer is equally simple. The central government, states and LGCs must now meet (and I am told they have met) at the FAAC and decide on the manner and procedure for opening accounts for the LGCs so that their allocations under section 162 of the 1999 Constitution are paid directly to them and not to the joint state LG accounts which are often intercepted by state governors and defrauded without the impotent LGCs being able to move.”
“The Supreme Court has categorically held that, ‘by virtue of section 162(3) and (5) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999, the amounts held in the LGC accounts in the Federation Account shall be distributed to them and paid directly to them’; that a state, whether itself or the governor or any other body, has no authority to hold, control, manage or disburse in any manner, allocations from the Federation Account to the LGC.”
Ozekhome’s proposal is in line with the aspirations of the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), which has consistently called for financial autonomy for local governments.
The association accused the state finance commissioner of colluding with the governor to block direct payments of FAAC funds.
Ozekhome’s post echoes ALGON, calls for immediate payment of FAAC allocation to LGAs appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from Ripples Nigeria.
