By Caleb Ishaya
Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, has asked President Bola Tinubu to stop attempts to disobey the Supreme Court’s order on local government fiscal autonomy.
NULGE said the president should ensure that allocations to the third tier of government are paid directly to the legitimate accounts of each of the 774 local government councils in the country.
Addressing journalists at the union’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, its President-General, Comrade Aliyu Kankara, lamented the inability of the federal government to enforce the judgement of the apex court on local government fiscal autonomy.
According to him, it is now over one year since the Supreme Court gave judgement on the restoration of fiscal autonomy to local government councils, but some governors have been seeking ways to bypass the law.
Speaking with particular reference to local government councils in Osun State, Kankara accused the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Office of the Accountant- General of the Federation of transferring funds belonging to local governments to accounts not recognised by law.
“I stand here today to address a very critical issue where some state actors are creating atmosphere of discord and throwing clean clogs in the wheel of progress of Osun State local government areas by working in contravention of the landmark judgement of July 14, 2024 on local government fiscal autonomy, where the Central Bank of Nigeria refused to respect the Supreme Court judgement on direct payment of local government allocations to their respective accounts,” he stated.
The NULGE boss referred to a letter dated June 10 and signed by Okolie Rita in which the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation allegedly directed that the chairman, treasurer or director of finance and administration or personnel management in each of the local governments in Osun State should endorse an application letter for the opening of an account for each of the local government councils.
He described such action as an aberration and a clear contravention of the law on local government fiscal autonomy.
Kankara called on the CBN not to recognise any intending signatories to local government accounts in Osun State other than career officers who are designated by law and enshrined in the approved guidelines for the administration of local government areas.
“As a union, we are embarrassed, to say the least, by this surreptitious move to supplant extant law and place the running of the accounts of Osun State local governments in the hands of impostors who are not recognised by law,” he added.
Kankara said NULGE is appealing to the CBN governor, minister of finance, and Accountant-General of the Federation to, as a matter of urgency, work together and ensure the release of the withheld Osun State Local Government Allocation from January till date to the legitimate officers.
He said the law stipulates that “authorised signatories to local government accounts are career officers, specifically the director of finance and supplies, with local government chairmen and heads of local government administration to countersign for confirmation.”
