Kwara, Other States Face Financial Crisis As FG set To Enforce Supreme court’s ‘ No Elected LG,No Allocation’ Ruling. **Anxiety grips AbdulRazaq, other govs

By Omowumi Omotosho

 

 

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq led administration in kwara and 19 other states across the federation may face financial crisis as the Federal Government is reportedly set to enforce the Supreme Court ruling on Local Government autonomy during the sharing of July 2024 Federal allocation which comes up in about two weeks.

If enforced, kwara and the other states which did not have elected local government in place will not receive the federal allocation for the month of July.

Other states caught in the web of running illegal government at the third-tier level include, Jigawa, Rivers, Anambra, Imo, Zamfara, Bauchi, Plateau, Abia, Enugu, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, and Benue.

National Pilot reliably gathered that the Tinubu led administration is determined to enforce the historic court ruling to the letter. Hence, according to sources, it is going to be ‘ No elected local government, no allocation” to kwara and the other affected states.

This development, it was gathered, has sent a wave of panic through the affected states as the governors, including AbdulRazaq are banking on the allocation to secure favourable financial position.

Many of the states, it was further learned, usually stake the federal allocation as a collateral to secure bank loans.

With this development, no bank will be willing to give out such loans.

This, it was gathered, has put kwara and the gang of 19’s financial plans in jeopardy, causing the governors to lose sleep and sick with worry.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi SAN had dragged the state governments to the Supreme Court over the violation of the local government autonomy.

The court barred the federal government from releasing allocations to local governments led by appointed rather than elected officials. Justice Agim who presided over the case, directed that local government funds should no longer be channelled through state governments, citing governors’ misuse of these funds to the detriment of local councils.

National Pilot recall that Governor AbdulRazaq who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, has not held any local government election since his first term inauguration in 2019, prompting significant unrest in the state.

In response to the outcry embellished with a series of court cases from Non-government organisations like Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD) , Governor AbdulRazaq scheduled local government elections for September 21, 2024. The preparation for these elections has been fraught with controversy, with various stakeholders questioning the transparency of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) and criticizing the abnormal extension of the election timetable.

An unidentified group obviously from Offa recently challenged the state government to refund ₦9.8 billion, representing five years and two months of federal allocations due to Offa Local Government Area.

The group who stormed the social media with ashtags #Offa first* #Offa koya* #Offa kowosi* vowed that “Except Gov Ramani account for this money or point it justification intern of impact in offa, our business with Gov AA has to end in Offa”

The group went on to give a breakdown of the allocation accrued to Offa LG since 2019 when Abdulrazaq came into office: 

* 2024 June 

* 271, 806, 688.7 

* 2024 May

* 284, 635,103.4

* 2024 April

* 284, 991, 536 

* 2024 March

* 261, 029, 845 

* 2024 February

* 271, 501, 246.8 

* 2024 January 

* 278, 519, 232.1 

* 2023 December 251, 523, 728.1 

* 2023 November 219, 524, 675.3 

* 2023 October 

* 206, 637, 526.2 

* 2023 September 252, 750, 333.8 

* 2023 August 

* 231, 409, 485.4 

* 2023 July 

* 211, 154, 206 

* 2023 June 

* 217, 536, 660.5 

* 2023 May 

* 300, 689, 183 

* 2023 April 

* 171, 272, 457 

* 2023 March

* 173, 589, 982 

* 2023 February 178, 209, 340.7

* 2023 January

 * 219, 714, 330.3

* 2022 December 200, 686, 072.1 

* 2022 November 177, 948, 315.7 

* 2022 October 

* 171, 244, 808.9 

* 2022 September

*  161, 250, 490.5 

* 2022 August 

* 211, 656, 280.7 

* 2022 July 

* 179, 060, 005 

* 2022 June

*  174 906, 562.8 

* 2022 May

* 148, 668, 690.8 

* 2022 April 167, 173, 062.3

* 2022 March 138, 426, 079.6 

* 2022 February 128, 167, 491.7 

* 2022 January 

* 166, 744, 215.7 

* 2021 December

*  153, 328, 050.3 

* 2021 February

 * 129, 520, 702.5 

* 2021 January

*  122, 941, 604.5 

* 2020 December 

* 117, 631, 933.4 

* 2020 November

* 119, 315, 121.5 

* 2020 October 

* 131, 326, 889.1 

* 2020 September 

* 140, 189, 978.6 

* 2020 August 

* 142, 698, 793.8 

* 2020 July 

* 139, 790, 986.3 

* 2020 June 

* 114, 387, 696.7 

* 2020 May 

* 126, 582, 988.1 

* 2020 April 

* 136, 821, 384 

* 2020 March 

* 120, 322, 409.9 

* 2020 February 

* 134, 988, 222.7 

* 2020 January 

* 145, 207, 448.7 

*2019 December 

* 134, 649, 639 

* 2019 November 

* 146, 872, 996.8

* 2019 October 

* 143, 345, 873.9 

* 2019 September 

* 149, 688, 029.1 

* 2019 August 

* 146, 477, 564.6 

* 2019 July 

* 153, 575, 426.7 

* 2019 June 

* 142, 989, 626.8 

* 2019 May 

* 127, 377, 577.4 

* 2019 April 

* 867, 855, 24.53 

* 2019 March 920, 526, 32.49 

* 2019 February 

* 138, 207, 215 

* 2019 January 

* 135, 202, 711.8 

The group demanded the whereabouts of the allocation to the Offa local government, calling for an end to what they described as “parasitic relationship with Gov.AA and APC ”

A review of the Federation Account Allocation from June 2023 to May 2024 reveals that Kwara State received ₦134.28 billion. Additionally, during the same period, Kwara received ₦55.14 billion for its sixteen local government areas.

In comparison, other North Central states received the following allocations: Benue (₦86.28 billion for 23 LGAs), Federal Capital Territory (₦55.76 billion for 6 LGAs), Kogi (₦74.88 billion for 21 LGAs), Nasarawa (₦46.71 billion for 13 LGAs), Niger (₦88.67 billion for 25 LGAs), and Plateau (₦64.53 billion for 17 LGAs). Overall, the 121 local government areas in the North Central region received a total allocation of ₦471.97 billion from the federal government.

This new development may compel Kwara and other affected states to expedite their local government elections or find alternative solutions to address the allocation seizure dilemma.