The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is secretly investigating the 774 local government chairmen across Nigeria over their management and expenditure of public funds since the councils gained financial autonomy, The PUNCH reports.
The investigation, being conducted by the commission’s zonal directorates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is aimed at determining whether local government authorities have been accountable in managing their statutory allocations.
The anti-graft agency is particularly interested in how the chairmen have utilised funds allocated to their respective councils, their capacity to manage public resources and whether financial autonomy has translated into improved service delivery at the grassroots.
An official of a state Ministry of Local Government, who confirmed the development to our correspondent, said all local government chairmen in the state were being investigated over their expenditure.
“All the local government chairmen in the state are currently being probed by EFCC over their spending,” the official said.
Sources within the commission also confirmed that the exercise was ongoing nationwide, describing it as a discreet investigation being handled by the EFCC’s zonal offices.
One of the sources said the commission was seeking to establish whether local governments had demonstrated accountability and managerial competence since the Supreme Court ruling granting them financial autonomy.
“All the local governments across the country are being investigated. It’s being done discreetly. You know the Supreme Court ruling granted them financial autonomy. We want to know whether they are accountable,” the source said.
The source added that the commission was interested in assessing the impact of financial autonomy on economic development and comparing the performance of local governments before and after the judgment.
“We want to see their definite impact on the economy as a result of the financial autonomy that has been granted them. We want to see whether they have the necessary managerial skills, and whether their integrity quotient is high.
“We want to see comparatively what was existing before the autonomy and what is existing now and whether there has been development. It is not about the state you mentioned alone; it is across the country. All the EFCC zonal offices are handling the investigation secretly,” the source added.
Background to local government autonomy
The investigation comes more than two years after the Supreme Court affirmed the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas and barred state governors from controlling or withholding funds allocated to the councils.
In May 2024, the Federal Government, through the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, instituted a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the control of local government allocations by state governors.
The suit sought to prevent governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils and replacing them with caretaker committees. It also sought to stop them from receiving and withholding funds meant for the councils.
Fagbemi argued that the 1999 Constitution provided for a democratically elected local government system and did not recognise caretaker committees as substitutes for elected councils.
On 11 July 2024, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in favour of local government financial autonomy, declaring it unconstitutional for state governors to control or withhold allocations due to the councils.
The seven-member panel, led by Justice Garba Lawal, also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay allocations directly into the accounts of local governments.
The ruling was expected to strengthen grassroots governance by allowing elected council officials to manage their finances independently and execute development projects without interference from state governments.
EFCC had earlier pledged to monitor council spending
Concerns about accountability and the management of local government funds had earlier prompted the EFCC to announce plans to monitor expenditure by the councils.
In October 2024, the commission’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said the agency would monitor the budget performance of all local governments to ensure that allocations were spent on approved projects and programmes.
Olukoyede, who spoke in an interview published in the commission’s magazine, said the EFCC was prepared to work with relevant stakeholders to track council expenditure and prosecute officials found to have violated the law.
He also identified the establishment of additional zonal directorates as part of efforts to expand the commission’s presence and strengthen its capacity to monitor public funds nationwide.
“We are fully prepared to ensure accountability in the use of local government funds. One of the reasons that informed the decision to establish additional zonal directorates by the commission is the need to improve the commission’s presence and coverage of the country,” he said.
He added: “We’ll work closely with stakeholders in tracking the budget performance of the councils, to ensure that funds appropriated are used for specified purposes and those who violate the law will be brought to justice.”
Efforts to obtain comments from the EFCC’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
