The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has called on Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, to disclose whether the bank has begun directly disbursing Federation Account allocations to Nigeria’s 774 local government councils and to publish the amounts paid to each.
SERAP also asked Cardoso to clarify whether any direct payments have been made to local government councils in Rivers State and to provide an explanation for such payments.
In a Freedom of Information request dated May 10, 2025, signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation stated, “The CBN ought to act in the public interest to ensure that the 774 councils in the country directly get their own allocations from the Federation Account, as ordered by the Supreme Court.”
SERAP said that the CBN has a constitutional and statutory duty to protect Federation Account allocations and ensure they are disbursed directly to the three tiers of government as recognised by the Nigerian Constitution.
This request follows a ruling by the Supreme Court in July 2024, which stated that only democratically elected councils have the authority to receive allocations from the Federation Account. The ruling prohibited state governors or other agencies from withholding or controlling these funds.
The court mandated that such funds be paid directly to democratically elected councils.
SERAP noted, “State governors are starving local governments of funds and putting them in peril, despite the Supreme Court’s binding orders. State governors’ blatant disregard for the Supreme Court’s orders undermines the integrity of the court and poses a direct challenge to the rule of law.”
SERAP argued that the CBN should facilitate compliance with the court’s ruling to prevent states and the Federal Capital Territory from tampering with local government allocations, particularly ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“The CBN should be facilitating compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders. If state governors get away with ignoring the court, it will undermine the ability of the bank to credibly perform its constitutional and statutory duties,” the letter stated.
The organisation expressed concern that states and the FCT continue to undermine local governments’ functionality as the third tier of government under the Nigerian Constitution.
“The CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to protect any tier of the federal governance structure from going extinct or being destroyed,” SERAP said.
It added that disbursing local government allocations to states harms Nigerians, exacerbates poverty, and undermines the councils’ ability to function effectively.
SERAP noted the CBN’s role in revitalising local governments and ensuring compliance with the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, and international human rights and anti-corruption obligations.
“Local government councils are entitled to a direct payment from the Federation Account of the amount standing to its credit in the said Federation Account. States should not be collecting, receiving, spending or tampering with the local government council funds from the Federation Account meant for the benefit of the councils,” the letter read.
The Supreme Court previously ruled that the Freedom of Information Act applies to public records held by the CBN, reinforcing transparency obligations under the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. SERAP warned that if the CBN does not respond within seven days of receiving the letter, the organisation will pursue legal action to enforce compliance.
The letter referenced former President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2022 statement: “If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100m, N50m will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100m. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.”
Reports indicate that the Federation Account Allocation Committee distributed N1.578 trillion among the three tiers of government in March 2025.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the 774 local governments have reportedly opened dedicated accounts with the CBN for direct allocation disbursements.