Nearly two years after the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria granting full financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government councils, implementation has remained largely on paper.

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) accuses key federal agencies of impeding compliance and undermining the rule of law.

Despite the court’s unambiguous July 2024 directive that allocations from the Federation Account be paid directly to local governments, the prevailing system, in which funds are channelled through state governments, remains largely intact across the country.

The National President of NULGE, Aliyu Haruna-Kankara, told The Guardian in Ahuja that no concrete administrative framework has been put in place to operationalise the judgement.

He blamed the Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria, and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for failing to issue the necessary directives to enable direct disbursement.

He explained: “There is no circular anywhere in this country directing local governments to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria to receive allocations. The claim that councils have refused to comply is simply not true. No such directive has been issued.”

He described as misleading assertions from some quarters within government that direct payments to local councils had commenced, insisting that, barring isolated cases such as Osun State, allocations are still routed through state structures.

“The reality on the ground contradicts official narratives. No local government in Nigeria today receives its allocation directly from the Federation Account,” he added.

The Supreme Court ruling, widely hailed at the time as a watershed in Nigeria’s fiscal federalism, affirmed the constitutional status of local governments as a distinct tier of government and ordered an end to state control over their finances.

It was believed that its implementation could significantly alter governance at the grassroots level, improve accountability, and curb the long-standing abuse of local government funds.

However, nearly 22 months on, that promise remains unfulfilled and ignored by the Federal Government that spearheaded the process.

Stakeholders cite a combination of bureaucratic inertia and political resistance as key impediments. While the court judgement is binding, coordinated administrative action, particularly from fiscal authorities, is required to translate it into practice and achieve the desired impact.

“There must be clear guidelines, operational procedures, and enforcement mechanisms. Without them, the system defaults to what it has always been,” the NULGE President noted.

While the continued delay could trigger industrial unrest, NULGE, which is actively backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, said it is intensifying consultations and may resort to its ‘last option’ if government agencies fail to act.

His words: “As a trade union, we are used to struggle. If this issue continues to linger, we will have no option but to take decisive action.”

The union also disclosed that efforts to seek further legal enforcement of the judgment are underway, though NULGE clarified that only the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria has the locus standi to re-approach the apex court on the matter.

The union said that consultations with ALGON are ongoing and that both bodies are “on the same page.”

The situation underscores a deeper challenge within Nigeria’s governance architecture, where judicial pronouncements, however definitive, often struggle to overcome entrenched political and institutional interests.

Indeed, the danger is that if a Supreme Court judgement of this magnitude can be ignored or indefinitely delayed, it sends a troubling signal about adherence to the rule of law.

As pressure mounts on the Federal Government to act, the fate of local government autonomy, seen as critical to grassroots development, hangs in the balance, caught between legal certainty and political hesitation.