The president according to dataphyte has accused governors of only giving half of the allocated funds to Local Government (LG) council chairmen, who then misuse the money.
Despite existing Executive Orders and laws, Nigerian local governments’ financial and administrative situations are closely linked. In this study, we examine the funds allocated to states for local governments between 2021 and 2022.
Based on an analysis of Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) documents from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a total of ₦1.719 trillion was allocated to Local Government (LG) councils in 2021.
Lagos received the largest share, with ₦114 billion, while Bayelsa received the lowest, at ₦20 billion. From January to August 2022, a total of ₦1.412 trillion was distributed, with Lagos again leading with ₦96 billion, and Ebonyi receiving the smallest allocation.
Let’s break it down further:
- How much did each state receive from the government for local governments?
- What was the total value of the local government allocations that states received?
For instance, if Osun state had chosen to invest its 2022 local government allocation in schools, it could have constructed 45,136 three-classroom blocks, based on the budgeted cost of ₦804,550 per block.
Using data from Ekiti state’s OCDS portal, where ₦1.8 million was allocated for digging boreholes, the 2022 local government allocations could potentially fund 13,302 boreholes across the state’s local government areas.
In the case of Imo state, if it had used its local government allocation for developing markets and parks, a task assigned to local government councils, it would have had 53 times the ₦723 million budgeted for market and park development in 2022. In simple terms, it would have had enough funds to complete these projects and still have over ₦37 billion remaining from its allocation to local government authorities.
For Niger state, if it had invested its local government allocation in improving health centers, it could have upgraded numerous primary healthcare centers across the state’s local government areas, considering its grant of ₦42.553 million for this purpose.
So, the question arises: What have your state government done with the local government FAAC allocation?
