The Federal Government of Nigeria has provided an insight into the delay in the direct transfer of monthly allocations to Local Government Areas.
DAILY POST reported that the Supreme Court had granted financial autonomy of local government areas, LGAs in the country.
Following this development and the resultant LG elections, it was expected that the 774 LGAs get direct transfer of funds.
But this has been delayed even as the government failed to take off the procedure as planned in January 2025.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had ordered all LG chairmen to set up a dedicated account for easy flow of the allocation for January.
The issue resurfaced on Tuesday when the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris fielded question from the press, where he suggested that proper arrangements have not been made.
“Now, we had hoped that by now that would have happened,” the Minister said.
“it’s not just for the federal government. These accounts are not being opened by the federal government. They’re being opened by the local governments.
“And like I said, there’s an internal committee that has already has been set up to facilitate and fast-track, to engage all people at the local government, those at the centre and other stakeholders to ensure that this happens seamlessly.
“We have 774 local governments, the Office of the accountant general Federation, as it is now, you know, would not just go into that transfer of funds without the proper arrangements being put in place.
“It’s a massive arrangement what is happening day in day out, to ensure that we reach that destination.
“So as soon as the processes are completed, which we believe will be pretty very soon, direct transfer will now take effect. Government is desirable to ensure that happens.”
DAILY POST reports that as a result of the delay, the funds are still being wired through the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee, JAAC.