Why Most Governors Are Against Local Government Financial Autonomy By Terfa Naswem

If Nigerian governors were transparent in the utilization of Local government allocations by bringing development to the grassroots, President Muhammadu Buhari won’t have pushed for financial autonomy for local governments and Nigerians won’t have supported it too.

The reason most governors will continue to fight against LG financial autonomy is because they will not have direct access to the allocations for their selfish and diabolical schemes.

It is because governors have failed to make the required impact on the 774 local governments in Nigeria using the local government allocations that led to Buhari’s stance that Local Government (LG) allocations will be directly sent to them from the federation.

Corruption unites people of all religions, tribes or political parties. That is why if a Christian and a Muslim governor agree to promote corruption, their religious differences will not hinder them. If an All Progressives Congress (APC) governor and peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor want to promote corruption, their different political affiliations will never stop them to unite.

That is why many APC and PDP governors are against LG financial autonomy because they have united in corruption. They know that once the financial autonomy for LG is implemented, they will not have direct access to such funds again.

Since governors have immunity and they are the only signatories to the state and local government joint account, they embezzle the money and nothing happens to them.

But if the local government council (LGC) chairmen are now signatories to their respective local government accounts, they will be closely monitored by Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) among others. Since LGC Chairmen don’t have immunity, they will be very careful in the utilization of the funds.

If they misappropriate such funds, they will be easily arrested and dealt with which will serve as deterrent to others and as a result, others will be afraid and ensure they bring development to the grassroots.

According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in Benue State, Gov Samuel Ortom received over N49bn in 2018 as LG allocations.

Each Local Government Authority gets above a hundred million monthly.

Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) DISBURSEMENT DETAILS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN BENUE (2018)

ADO

January _______________ = N172,536,505.15
February ______________ = N167,383,504.98
March ________________ = N169,399,431.47
April __________________ = N166,394,167.16
May __________________ = N178,821,083.07
June __________________ = N177,222,570.17
July ___________________ = N192,987,453.60
August ________________ = N182,315,931.85
September ___________ = N187,680,367.72
October ______________ = N183,063,730.54
November ____________ = N189,837,870.86
December ____________ = N201,365,381.04
TOTAL ________________ = N2,169,007,997.62

AGATU

January _______________ = N151,144,863.12
February ______________ = N146,551,059.17
March ________________ = N148,331,693.68
April __________________ = N145,701,398.57
May __________________ = N156,645,138.26
June __________________ = N155,259,293.47
July ___________________ = N169,157,003.91
August ________________ = N159,786,873.99
September ____________ = N164,345,549.63
Ocorner _______________ = N160,437,958.25
November _____________ = N166,284,977.89
December _____________ = N176,517,956.54
TOTAL _________________ = N1,900,163,766.49

APA

January ________________ = N145,835,433.18
February _______________ = N141,340,848.37
March __________________ = N143,084,690.16
April ____________________ = N140,558,834.29
May ____________________ = N151,141,484.73
June ___________________ = N149,788,789.38
July ____________________ = N163,264,054.49
August _________________ = N154,218,069.28
September _____________ = N158,492,770.76
October ________________ = N154,847,892.66
November _____________ = N160,405,275.38
December ______________ = N170,365,292.54
TOTAL __________________ = N1,833,343,435.23

BURUKU

January _______________ = N175,956,605.82
February ______________ = N170,906,172.55
March ________________ = N172,854,903.07
April __________________ = N169,734,526.36
May __________________ = N182,364,437.80
June __________________ = N180,827,171.89
July ___________________ = N196,691,743.34
August ________________ = N185,806,635.48
September ____________ = N191,707,296.03
October _______________ = N186,556,587.11
November ____________ = N193,767,705.74
December ____________ = N205,267,678.21
TOTAL ________________ = N2,212,441,463.40

GBOKO

January _______________ = N230,369,259.55
February ______________ = N223,818,809.73
March ________________ = N226,408,419.52
April __________________ = N222,356,560.31
May __________________ = N238,772,941.57
June __________________ = N236,656,211.34
July ___________________ = N257,350,598.15
August ________________ = N243,157,448.60
September ____________ = N250,942,944.67
October _______________ = N244,158,788.73
November _____________ = N253,611,415.36
December _____________ = N268,499,032.53
TOTAL _________________ = N2,896,102,430.06

GUMA

January _______________ = N184,348,003.72
February ______________ = N178,595,630.96
March ________________ = N180,900,145.17
April __________________ = N177,771,345.42
May __________________ = N191,068,878.48
June __________________ = N189,208,751.04
July ___________________ = N206,305,604.69
August ________________ = N194,923,868.34
September ____________ = N200,116,479.72
October _______________ = N195,745,216.97
November _____________ = N202,594,156.37
December _____________ = N215,191,450.44
TOTAL _________________ = N2,316,769,531.32

GWER EAST

January _______________ = N174,417,265.52
February ______________ = N168,943,564.32
March ________________ = N171,128,433.99
April __________________ = N168,168,227.21
May __________________ = N180,773,827.21
June __________________ = N179,021,891.09
July ___________________ = N195,232,183.18
August ________________ = N184,454,049.44
September ____________ = N189,313,076.49
October _______________ = N185,229,177.50
November _____________ = N191,676,404.37
December _____________ = N203,649,432.64
TOTAL ________________ = N2,192,007,532.96


GWER WEST

January _______________ = N150,520,721.14
February ______________ = N146,053,784.15
March ________________ = N147,767,193.59
April __________________ = N145,116,072.41
May __________________ = N155,996,880.12
June __________________ = N154,672,091.44
July ___________________ = N168,400,819.00
August ________________ = N159,065,481.25
September ____________ = N163,835,258.21
October _______________ = N159,706,078.92
November _____________ = N165,692,331.75
December _____________ = N175,752,493.03
TOTAL _________________ = N1,892,579,205.01

KATSINA ALA

January _______________ = N191,123,981.59
February ______________ = N185,364,790.07
March ________________ = N187,650,846.64
April __________________ = N184,354,334.03
May __________________ = N198,091,391.73
June __________________ = N196,248,401.48
July ___________________ = N213,760,296.08
August ________________ = N201,961,436.66
September ____________ = N207,770,711.93
October _______________ = N202,801,612.34
November _____________ = N210,200,395.23
December _____________ = N222,999,694.52
TOTAL _________________ = N2,402,327,892.31

KONSHISHA

January _______________ = N182,286,285.42
February ______________ = N177,112,196.72
March ________________ = N179,107,722.22
April __________________ = N175,864,380.66
May __________________ = N188,925,722.50
June __________________ = N187,346,272.57
July ___________________ = N203,720,028.22
August ________________ = N192,448,643.04
September ____________ = N198,676,448.34
October _______________ = N193,224,313.35
November _____________ = N200,772,646.93
December _____________ = N212,604,593.20
TOTAL ________________ = N2,292,089,253.17

KWANDE

January _______________ = N206,314,240.85
February ______________ = N199,883,726.85
March ________________ = N202,486,594.99
April __________________ = N199,002,616.45
May __________________ = N213,841,644.09
June __________________ = N211,711,572.91
July ___________________ = N230,833,394.04
August ________________ = N218,118,297.41
September ____________ = N223,917,764.61
October _______________ = N219,046,163.61
November _____________ = N226,690,810.60
December _____________ = N240,744,360.14
TOTAL ________________ = N2,592,591,186.55

LOGO

January _______________ = N160,003,253.95
February ______________ = N155,534,215.68
March ________________ = N157,217,732.08
April __________________ = N154,329,769.68
May __________________ = N165,824,339.91
June __________________ = N164,527,225.59
July ___________________ = N178,829,068.30
August ________________ = N168,909,780.48
September ____________ = N174,558,329.20
October _______________ = N169,576,209.44
November _____________ = N176,343,124.27
December _____________ = N186,676,888.61
TOTAL N2,012,329,937.18

MAKURDI

January _______________ = N195,396,736.37
February ______________ = N190,309,242.85
March ________________ = N192,214,572.20
April __________________ = N188,618,058.82
May __________________ = N202,512,067.99
June __________________ = N201,015,286.80
July ___________________ = N218,088,724.64
August ________________ = N206,007,403.00
September ____________ = N213,640,125.77
October _______________ = N206,812,582.13
November _____________ = N215,574,871.18
December _____________ = N227,675,766.58
TOTAL _________________ = N2,457,865,438.34

OBI

January _______________ = N140,289,947.49
February ______________ = N136,181,967.79
March ________________ = N137,732,879.59
April __________________ = N135,234,794.54
May __________________ = N145,389,985.17
June __________________ = N144,212,313.73
July ___________________ = N156,953,258.08
August ________________ = N148,237,693.28
September ____________ = N152,816,321.24
October _______________ = N148,825,691.28
November _____________ = N154,506,191.02
December _____________ = N163,835,435.51
TOTAL _________________ = N1,764,216,478.72

OGBADIBO

January _______________ = N148,251,072.20
February ______________ = N144,016,842.23
March ________________ = N145,610,625.36
April __________________ = N142,949,469.28
May _________________ = N153,642,083.67
June __________________ = N152,425,881.43
July ___________________ = N165,776,926.11
August ________________ = N156,574,681.11
September ____________ = N161,626,904.70
October _______________ = N157,192,996.84
November _____________ = N163,341,663.21
December _____________ = N173,052,682.35
TOTAL _________________ = N1,864,461,828.50

OHIMINI

January _______________ = N133,541,824.26
February ______________ = N129,513,850.35
March ________________ = N131,043,169.18
April __________________ = N128,691,069.49
May __________________ = N138,395,523.67
June __________________ = N137,237,111.85
July ___________________ = N149,488,888.23
August ________________ = N141,186,626.82
September ____________ = N145,306,502.12
October _______________ = N141,750,799.01
November _____________ = N146,993,840.60
December _____________ = N156,032,472.45
TOTAL _________________ = N1,679,181,678.04

OJU

January _______________ = N170,489,864.18
February ______________ = N165,356,638.99
March ________________ = N167,368,468.04
April __________________ = N164,408,769.88
May __________________ = N176,699,780.14
June __________________ = N175,104,880.73
July ___________________ = N190,726,054.79
August ________________ = N180,180,013.07
September ____________ = N185,395,785.01
October _______________ = N180,920,896.93
November _____________ = N187,555,606.83
December _____________ = N199,000,461.88
TOTAL ___________________ = N2,143,207,220.48

OKPOKWU

January _______________ = N161,585,153.95
February ______________ = N157,112,593.98
March ________________ = N158,792,854.98
April __________________ = N155,866,293.33
May __________________ = N167,463,816.86
June __________________ = N166,169,745.84
July ___________________ = N180,570,481.61
August ________________ = N170,553,868.94
September ____________ = N176,342,286.79
October _______________ = N171,224,827.00
November _____________ = N178,117,204.01
December _____________ = N188,500,485.30
TOTAL ________________ = N2,032,299,612.59

OTUKPO

January ______________ = N190,425,205.02
February ______________ = N185,193,505.73
March ________________ = N187,193,843.97
April __________________ = N183,763,255.98
May __________________ = N197,361,317.42
June __________________ = N195,777,931.36
July ___________________ = N212,701,398.12
August ________________ = N200,930,409.28
September ____________ = N207,794,036.97
October _______________ = N201,732,119.98
November _____________ = N209,866,559.73
December _____________ = N222,001,513.86
TOTAL ________________ = N2,394,741,097.41

TARKA

January _______________ = N129,644,818.13
February ______________ = N125,973,922.51
March ________________ = N127,321,036.54
April __________________ = N124,963,913.76
May __________________ = N134,352,792.25
June __________________ = N133,359,746.57
July ___________________ = N145,007,039.03
August ________________ = N136,934,520.34
September ____________ = N141,449,204.83
October _______________ = N137,463,379.58
November _____________ = N142,921,388.67
December _____________ = N151,412,435.11
TOTAL _________________ = N1,630,804,197.32


UKUM

January _______________ = N179,233,886.09
February ______________ = N174,143,489.10
March ________________ = N176,103,311.51
April __________________ = N172,912,354.30
May __________________ = N185,761,366.58
June __________________ = N184,214,197.21
July ___________________ = N200,317,484.92
August ________________ = N189,231,684.81
September ____________ = N195,352,790.31
October _______________ = N189,993,284.47
November _____________ = N197,415,191.18
December _____________ = N209,057,655.85
TOTAL ________________ = N2,253,736,696.32


USHONGO

January _______________ = N173,466,857.35
February ______________ = N168,377,024.43
March ________________ = N170,355,416.76
April __________________ = N167,308,705.33
May __________________ = N179,784,570.21
June __________________ = N178,220,215.83
July ___________________ = N193,975,689.27
August ________________ = N183,245,052.87
September ____________ = N188,830,197.37
October _______________ = N183,990,992.11
November _____________ = N190,937,046.82
December _____________ = N202,413,985.31
TOTAL ________________ = N2,180,905,753.65


VANDEIKYA

January _______________ = N184,846,991.82
February ______________ = N179,565,029.76
March ________________ = N181,611,070.82
April __________________ = N178,334,605.53
May __________________ = N191,580,771.01
June __________________ = N189,955,553.51
July ___________________ = N206,595,218.87
August ________________ = N195,169,226.25
September ____________ = N201,406,615.57
October _______________ = N195,959,311.92
November _____________ = N203,557,056.85
December _____________ = N215,593,970.56
TOTAL ________________ = N2,324,175,422.46


Grand Total __________________ = N49,437,349,055.11


The allocations to the Benue State government in 2018 was N55,441,078,188.72.


This is the reason most governors will continue to fight against LG financial autonomy since they will not have direct access to the allocations for their selfish and diabolical schemes.