Do Not Allow Cabals Stop LG Autonomy – NULGE Begs Tinubu

The President of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Hakeem Ambali, has accused the Federation Account Allocation Committee of being responsible for the delay in the direct allocations to local governments.

According to findings by Punch, six months after the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to local governments in the country, the implementation of the judgment has yet to take effect.

On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of the 774 local government areas in the country and prohibiting governors from further control of funds meant for the councils.

The apex court also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay local government allocations directly to their accounts, declaring the non-remittance of funds by the 36 states unconstitutional.

Speaking to the aforementioned publication on Sunday, Ambali urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that politicians does not frustrate local government autonomy.

“There is a delay because FAAC has not given the instruction. ALGON is ready to comply with every instruction. In fact, the CBN itself can do that directly.

“The point is, there is a judgment, and since it is a Supreme Court judgment, there should be no confusion about that. FAAC itself should know what is right. We are calling on Mr President to please stand on business. We are happy with what he has been doing.

“This is already six months since the government secured the landmark judgment.

“The technical committee that was set up has sent the document to the President. We concluded the process over a month ago. We are grateful that the President started well, but we need him to please stand and see the implementation to completion. The President should not allow cabals to come in the way of implementation,” the NULGE president said.