The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has accused the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) of obstructing the implementation of local government autonomy, despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling affirming direct funding for the nation’s 774 local councils.
Speaking ahead of a Federal High Court hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Abuja, ALGON Secretary General, Muhammed Abubakar, criticized the AGF’s directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to open uniform accounts for local governments. He said the move contradicts the spirit and letter of the Supreme Court’s July 11, 2024 judgment, which granted local governments full financial autonomy.
“The Supreme Court clearly affirmed that local governments are an independent tier of government. Yet, we’re seeing actions from the AGF’s office that contradict that autonomy,” Abubakar told The Punch.
ALGON has filed suit FHC/ABJ/05/353/2025 against the AGF and several federal agencies, demanding the full inclusion of local governments in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the right to independently manage their allocations. Defendants in the suit include the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; the Accountant-General of the Federation; the CBN; the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL); and several commercial banks.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling mandating direct disbursement of funds to local governments, implementation has stalled. According to Abubakar, no local government has received direct FAAC allocations since the judgment.
He also criticized the CBN’s reported demand that councils provide two years of audited financial reports before accounts can be opened—a requirement he said was never part of the court’s ruling.
“After the judgment, we approached the AGF’s office, requesting that local governments be allowed to open accounts with commercial banks of their choice. But the AGF instead directed the CBN to open accounts on their behalf. That defeats the idea of autonomy,” he said.
“This directive essentially centralizes what should be a decentralized process. It’s a contradiction. True autonomy means each local government should be able to choose its own bank and receive its allocation directly, without intermediaries or imposed conditions,” he added.
Abubakar stressed that ALGON is not asking for funds to be paid to the association but to the individual local governments, in banks of their own choosing. “We’re not asking that the money come to ALGON,” he emphasized. “We’re saying it should go to each LGA—in the banks they choose.”
When contacted for a response, the Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Publicity in the Office of the AGF and Minister of Justice, Kamarudeen Ogundele, declined comment, citing the ongoing court case. “It is sub judice to speak on a matter before a court,” he said.
The outcome of Tuesday’s hearing may mark a crucial step toward resolving the legal and constitutional questions surrounding the practical enforcement of local government autonomy in Nigeria.
