ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA )-Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals that 352 Local Government Councils across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory failed to remit or generate any revenue for their respective state governments in 2023.
This development emerges amid ongoing debates over financial autonomy for Local Governments.
An analysis of the councils’ Internally Generated Revenue, recently published by the NBS, shows that the number of states without revenue contributions from Local Governments increased from seven in 2022 to 17 in 2023.
According to the report, only 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states received revenue from their Local Governments last year.
This situation highlights the financial strain on local governance and raises concerns about resource management at the grassroots level, especially amid growing demands for greater autonomy and accountability.
In May, the Federal Government, represented by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, filed a lawsuit challenging state governors’ authority to receive and withhold federal allocations designated for Local Government Areas.
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling affirming the financial autonomy of the country’s 774 Local Governments, prohibiting governors from controlling funds allocated to these councils.
The court also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to disburse LG allocations directly to their accounts, declaring the withholding of these funds by the states unconstitutional.
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Unless state governors resist, direct payment of statutory allocations to Local Governments is set to begin in November 2024.
The decision marked a pivotal move toward financial autonomy for local councils, reinforcing their independence in generating internal revenue while also underscoring the need for greater oversight of how these allocations are spent.
According to the NBS, the states that recorded zero Local Government revenue in 2023 include Rivers (23 LGAs), Delta (25 LGAs), Kano (44 LGAs), Enugu (17 LGAs), Anambra (21 LGAs), Katsina (34 LGAs), and Plateau (17 LGAs).
Others are Nasarawa (13 LGAs), Zamfara (14 LGAs), Niger (25 LGAs), Bayelsa (eight LGAs), Benue (23 LGAs), Sokoto (23 LGAs), Adamawa (21 LGAs), Kebbi (21 LGAs), Yobe (17 LGAs) and and FCT (six LGAs).
Further analysis revealed that in 2023, the 20 states that generated revenue from LG activities collectively raised N37.05bn.
This is a decline from 2022 when 29 states generated a total of N48.7bn.
In the year under review, Lagos led the list with N10.49bn, followed by Ebonyi with N6.13bn. Third on the list is Kwara with N3.35bn remittance.
Oyo state got N3.11bn, Jigawa (N2.89bn), Edo N2.59bn, Gombe (N2.09bn), Ondo (N1.39bn), Ogun (N1.31bn), Cross River (N701.34m), Taraba (N441m).
Kaduna (N382.22m), Akwa Ibom (N343.18m), Abia (N341.74m), Ekiti (N303.65m), Kogi (N289.73m).
Other states including Bauchi remitted N250.37m, Imo (N215.34m), Borno (N213.12m), and Osun (N204.42m).