Account for over N40tr allocations to FCT, councils, SERAP tells govs

SOCIO-ECONOMIC Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has charged 36 state governors and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to disclose “details of federal allocations meant for local governments in your states and the FCT, and the actual disbursement of allocations to the local governments since return of democracy in 1999.”

It also implored them to promptly invite the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to “investigate actual disbursements and spending of federal allocations meant for local governments in your states and the FCT since May 1999.”

Recall that former President Muhammadu Buhari, in December 2022, stated that if the money from the Federation Account to the state was about N100 million, N50 million would be sent to the chairman, but would sign that he received N100 million, adding: “The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.”

In the freedom of information requests at the weekend and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said Nigerians have the right to know the details of actual “disbursements and spending of federal allocations in your states and the FCT.”

The organisation stated that states and the FCT should be guided by transparency and accountability principles, and proactively publish information pertaining to their actual disbursements and spending of federal allocations meant for local governments.

It continued: “According to our information, the 36 states in Nigeria and the FCT have collected over N40 trillion federal allocations meant for the 774 local government areas in the country and FCT.

“The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed to states N225.21 billion federal allocations meant for local governments in November 2023 alone. States also collected N258,810,449,711.47 federal allocations meant for local government areas in December 2023.

“However, there is opacity in the actual disbursement of federal allocations to the local government areas in your states. States and the FCT have, over the years, failed and/or refused to disclose the portion of federal allocations that are disbursed by state governors.”