ABUJA — Nearly nine months after the Supreme Court granted full autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas (LGAs), the implementation process has hit a major roadblock as several state governors reportedly oppose the directive for local councils to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for direct federal allocations.

Investigations by The PUNCH reveal that a growing number of governors are allegedly intimidating and coercing local government chairmen to resist the opening of the mandated CBN accounts — a critical step to severing state-level control over LG funds.

“Our governor has threatened all the chairmen not to open CBN accounts,” a chairman from a South-East state disclosed anonymously. “Even when we offered to remit 50 percent of the allocation to him as a compromise, he still refused.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling was intended to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic structure by granting fiscal independence to local governments, eliminating the controversial state joint account system which critics say has enabled the misappropriation of LG funds by state officials.

To operationalize the judgment, a federal panel was established and tasked with overseeing the transition. It directed the CBN to open dedicated accounts for each LGA — a move that has met stiff resistance from multiple quarters, including:

• Governors, who are reportedly reluctant to relinquish control over LG finances.
• CBN, which some chairmen say has imposed stringent conditions, such as requiring two-month account statements from LGAs — a demand many cannot meet due to the current lack of financial independence.

Only Delta State has reportedly submitted LG account details for the CBN directive, according to findings from a Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) subcommittee meeting.

While some states like Nasarawa claim to be compliant, with accounts already opened, funds are still being routed through state-managed joint accounts, delaying true autonomy.

“Despite opening the accounts, no LG in Nasarawa has received direct federal allocation,” said NULGE Chairman Adamu Sharhabilu. He, however, commended the state government for supporting the autonomy effort in principle.

Conversely, reports from Kano, Zamfara, Yobe, Kwara, Benue, and the South-West paint a different picture: widespread hesitation or outright opposition, with no CBN accounts opened or verified.

In Kano State, the chairman of Garko LGA, Saminu Garko, confirmed that none of the 44 LGAs had opened CBN accounts yet, attributing the delay to a lack of formal engagement from the apex bank.

“The CBN has not invited us for verification or regularisation of accounts,” he said.

In Jigawa, ALGON chairman Prof. Abdulrahman Salim insisted that the state is in compliance and that account opening procedures are ongoing. But even there, biometric verification remains pending for many councils, delaying full implementation.

Meanwhile, local government workers and their unions have expressed frustration over the sluggish pace of reform. A LG staffer in Yobe revealed that salaries are still being paid through state ministries, and the new minimum wage has yet to reach local government employees — widening the disparity between state and LG civil servants.

“The implementation is being sabotaged by powerful interests who prefer to maintain the status quo,” said a Benue LG chairman.

Some governors, according to sources, are lobbying for LG accounts to be opened in commercial banks instead of the CBN, a move critics argue would keep the councils financially tethered to state influence.

As stakeholders await decisive federal action, questions remain about the Presidency’s position, especially after governors met with President Bola Tinubu to air their preference for commercial bank accounts.

With tensions mounting, local government advocates are urging the Federal Government to enforce the Supreme Court ruling in full, by mandating the direct disbursement of funds only to LGs with CBN accounts.

“If the Supreme Court judgment is to have any meaning, it must be backed by the political will to confront the entrenched interests undermining it,” said a NULGE official who requested anonymity.

For now, Nigeria’s long-promised local government autonomy remains a constitutional victory still awaiting translation into reality — its fate resting in a tug-of-war between state control and democratic decentralisation.