More than a year after the Supreme Court granted Nigeria’s 774 local government councils financial autonomy, state governors continue to hijack their funds in open defiance of the ruling.
On 11 July 2024, the apex court, led by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that councils must directly control their allocations. Yet investigations by Observer Times reveal that between July 2024 and July 2025, over ₦4.5 trillion meant for local governments passed through state governors.
READ ALSO: Retired Police Officers Slam IGP Egbetokun for Targeting Sowore While Shielding Criminals
Official figures show councils were entitled to ₦3.77 trillion in 2024 alone. But many chairmen say little of these sums actually reach them once state deductions are made. A council boss in North Central Nigeria lamented: “My council is allocated ₦150 million monthly. After the state takes its cut, I barely get ₦40 million. How do I maintain schools, clinics, and roads with that?”
Governors have gone further, dissolving elected councils in states such as Imo, Rivers and Oyo, replacing them with caretaker loyalists. In Sokoto, Delta and Borno, state electoral commissions returned 100% victories for ruling parties, undermining grassroots democracy.
The consequences for citizens are severe. In Kogi’s Ofu council, residents say no capital project has been executed in two years. Across rural Nigeria, schools lack teachers, clinics have no drugs, and roads remain impassable. Poverty, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, is deepest in these areas where councils are meant to intervene.
Civil society groups are pushing back. The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees has threatened nationwide protests, while SERAP has launched fresh legal action. But activists fear the Federal Government’s reluctance to confront governors—driven by political considerations ahead of 2027—will stall enforcement.
Rights lawyer Chidi Odinkalu warned: “If Nigerians do not rise to demand accountability, governors will continue business as usual.”
Analysts say the governors’ defiance makes a mockery of the rule of law and erodes faith in democracy. Until Abuja acts decisively, local government autonomy remains a mirage—while funds meant for the people are diverted into the machinery of state power.
