In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, the Ward 13 Councilor in the Abeokuta South LGA, said the judgment is a welcome development, adding that it showed that President Bola Tinubu is well connected with the people at the grassroots.
Ogun lawmaker welcome LG autonomy
Victor, who is also a media aide to Hon. Balogun Olaniyi Afeez, the chairman of the Abeokuta South LGA, lamented that the local governments in Nigeria have been in darkness due to lack of funds to run the administrations at the local level.
He then expressed the optimism that the elected council chairman will utilise their funds effectively and make the environment for the people at the grassroot. He said:
“For so many years, the government at the local level has been put in the dark, as the dividends of democracy are not getting to the grassroots or the ones that are getting there are so little that they can’t even be enough to be called tangible. It is a welcome development to have the local government collect their allocation directly from the federal government.
“It is needed for the smooth running of local government affairs, and it should be a welcome relief to all Nigerians to know that the administration of PBAT looks out for its people even at the grassroots level. All we ask for and pray is for the local government representative to make good use of the funds and create an enabling environment for its populace.”
When will LG start receiving their funds directly?
The federal government had earlier stated that it would start paying the local government their allocations as directed by the Supreme Court but suspended the implementation of the apex court judgment over the lack of dedicated accounts.
However, a recent investigation indicated that the federal government was yet to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to open dedicated accounts for the 774 local government chairmen in Nigeria. Vanguard reported that the national president of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, Bello Lawal Yandaki, made the claim in an interview.