ALGON sues FG over LG autonomy implementation
Story from Hamzat Ibrahim
The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government over the delayed implementation of local government autonomy.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/05/353/2025, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja. ALGON is seeking the inclusion of local government councils in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to ensure they receive direct disbursements from the federation as mandated by the Supreme Court.
Respondents in the suit include the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; and the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Other respondents are the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, commercial banks, and all 774 local government councils.
READ ALSO: Supreme court’s judgment fails to seal LG autonomy 7 months after verdict
ALGON’s Secretary-General, Mohammed Abubakar, confirmed the suit to Saturday PUNCH, stating that the action was necessary to ensure local governments received their allocations directly, as directed by the Supreme Court.
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that local government allocations must be paid directly to them. The ruling came after the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, filed a suit seeking full autonomy and direct funding for all 774 local government councils.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the judgment, declared that withholding local government funds at the state level was unconstitutional. “The demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law.
It is the position of this court that the federation can pay local government allocations directly to the LGs or through the states. In this case, since payment through states has not worked, the justice of this matter demands that LG allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGs,” the court ruled.
However, nearly eight months after the judgment, local government autonomy is yet to be implemented. Reports indicate that the Central Bank of Nigeria has requested at least two years of audited financial reports from the 774 councils before granting them direct access to their allocations.
Abubakar stressed the need for legal intervention to ensure local governments are represented in FAAC or any other committee handling fund allocations.
ALGON’s suit also calls for a court declaration that disbursing local government funds through commercial banks or any other agencies without the authorisation of the councils would be illegal.
The association further demands that the defendants be barred from discussing, approving, or disbursing local government funds without local council representation in FAAC meetings.
Additionally, ALGON seeks an order restraining the defendants from continuing to allocate funds to local governments through any intermediary without direct involvement from the councils.
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