Abuja, May 11, 2025- The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to disclose whether it has started disbursing federal allocations to the 774 local government councils.
It particularly urged Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the apex bank, to publish the amounts, if any, sent directly to each council.
SERAP also urged the governor to disclose whether any direct payments had been made from the federation account to local government councils in Rivers State and to provide explanations for any such payments.
SERAP made the demands as Freedom of Information request dated May 10, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare.
It said: “The CBN ought to act in the public interest to ensure that the 774 councils in the country directly get their own allocations from the Federation Account, as ordered by the Supreme Court.
“The CBN has a constitutional and statutory duty to protect the allocations in the Federation Account and the public funds disbursed from that Account directly to each of the constitutionally recognised three tiers of government.
“The CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to ensure that no part of the Federation is governed contrary to the Nigerian Constitution or by anybody that is not constitutionally empowered to do so.
“State governors are starving local governments of funds and putting them in peril, despite the Supreme Court’s binding orders. State governors’ blatant disregard for the Supreme Court’s orders undermines the integrity of the court and poses a direct challenge to the rule of law.
“The CBN should be facilitating compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders. If state governors get away with ignoring the court, it will undermine the ability of the bank to credibly perform its constitutional and statutory duties.
“Ensuring that all restrictions against direct disbursement of allocations from the Federation Account to the 774 councils will comply with the orders by the Supreme Court and stop states and the Federal Capital Territory from tampering with the allocations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and the CBN to comply with our request in the public interest.
SERAP noted that, according to the Supreme Court, “no governor or other agencies have the power to keep, control, or disburse in any manner the allocations from the Federation Account to local government councils
“Any direct disbursement of such allocations must be paid to democratically elected local government councils,” it said.
