The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has pledged to ensure that increased financial resources translate into visible development at the grassroots as efforts intensify to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government financial autonomy.
The commission said it would deepen engagement with local councils and work towards ensuring that funds due to the third tier of government are properly monitored and deployed.
The commitment was made when an RMAFC delegation led by Aliyu Abdulkadir, the commissioner representing Nasarawa State and chairman of the Commission’s State and Local Government Monitoring Committee, visited the National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Bello Lawal, at the association’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Speaking on behalf of RMAFC chairman Mohammed Shehu, Abdulkadir said the newly constituted committee was established to strengthen engagement with local governments and identify practical measures to improve their financial capacity.
He noted that RMAFC, as a constitutional body, was mandated to monitor accruals to and disbursements from the Federation Account, including funds to which local councils are constitutionally entitled.
Abdulkadir reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to implementing the Supreme Court’s pronouncement on local government autonomy.
He, however, urged councils to improve their internally generated revenue and reduce their reliance on allocations from the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has pledged to ensure that funds meant for Nigeria’s 774 local government areas are paid directly to them if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the policy would form part of his plans to strengthen local government autonomy, uphold the rule of law and promote a more genuinely federal system of government.
In a statement issued on his behalf on Wednesday by his official spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo, Atiku said his administration would respect court judgments and ensure that public funds reached the level of government for which they were intended.
He specifically referred to the Supreme Court judgment delivered in July 2024 on the financial autonomy of local governments.
Atiku argued that giving councils direct access to their funds would improve their ability to deliver development at the grassroots and respond to challenges affecting their communities.
He also said the measure could contribute to poverty reduction and strengthen local governments’ capacity to confront crime and terrorism.
Atiku further pledged to review the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) policy and introduce debt forgiveness for qualifying students.
His Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the proposal was made in response to a post by President Bola Tinubu on X in which the President criticised Atiku’s economic positions without directly naming him.
Shaibu accused the President of being disingenuous by citing NELFUND in response to Atiku’s proposal to reduce energy costs.
“Celebrating NELFUND as proof that education has become affordable under your government is like setting school fees on fire and then boasting that you lent students a bucket of water,” he said.
Shaibu argued that government should address the underlying cost of education rather than present student loans as evidence that the system had become more affordable.
He also criticised what he described as rising education costs under the current administration, saying the government should not “parade the loan itself as evidence that the system is working” when education had become increasingly expensive for ordinary families.
In a separate development, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has dismissed reports that the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA), a pro-Tinubu support group, has been dissolved ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Uzodimma, who serves as Director-General of the group, spoke on Wednesday at a meeting with RHA members in Abuja.
He said “nothing has changed”, insisting that the organisation remained intact and committed to mobilising support for President Tinubu’s re-election.
The governor described reports of the group’s dissolution as false and urged members to remain focused and ignore what he called attempts by “mischief-makers” to create confusion and weaken the organisation.
Uzodimma said the establishment of a Presidential Campaign Council ahead of an election was a normal political process and should not be interpreted as a replacement for or dissolution of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors.
