A former member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo, has urged Nigerians to hold state governors accountable for increased Federation Account revenues following the removal of the petrol subsidy, accusing some governors of denying local governments the funds needed for grassroots development.
Onuigbo, the President of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment International, said the increased allocations to states should translate into better rural infrastructure, agricultural development and employment, rather than remain concentrated at the state level.
Speaking in an interview with journalists on Sunday, the former Abia State finance commissioner said governors had benefited from the fiscal reforms of President Bola Tinubu but had not done enough to ensure that the additional resources reached local communities.
The details of the interaction was made available to PUNCH Online via a statement from his media office on Sunday.
He said, “Since President Tinubu has done marvellously well in funnelling a greater percentage of the revenue accruing from the subsidy removal, state governors should be equally magnanimous in allowing the Local Government Councils to receive their due share.”
Onuigbo cited statements by governors acknowledging the increase in allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee as evidence of the additional resources available to state governments.
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, had said the state’s monthly allocation increased from between N3.8bn and N4.5bn before the removal of the subsidy to between N14bn and N16bn.
“With the removal of subsidy today, I can tell you for free, Nasarawa State is receiving an average of N14bn to N16bn every month,” Sule said when he received a delegation of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors in Lafia, according to Onuigbo.
The former lawmaker also cited comments by Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, who recalled that monthly allocations to the three tiers of government had increased from about N784bn collectively to between N1.8tn and N2.6tn following the reforms.
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, was also said to have praised the Federal Government for increasing the resources available to states.
Onuigbo, however, questioned how much of the additional revenue was being deployed to strengthen local governments, arguing that the continued use of Joint Account Committees by state governments undermined the financial capacity of councils.
He alleged that, while the Federal Government received 52.68 per cent of Federation Account revenue and states received 26.72 per cent, local governments were not consistently allowed to access the 20.60 per cent allocated to them.
He particularly praised Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, claiming they allowed local government councils in their states to receive the full value of their federal allocations.
The former lawmaker said local governments needed direct access to their funds to provide basic infrastructure and create economic opportunities in rural communities.
“Governors are no longer running around in search of funds to pay salaries. We are also looking at a situation, where resources meant for the local government are made available to them to pursue agriculture, so that citizens at the rural level can now engage in productive activities.
“When you talk about agriculture, or constructing culverts and tarring of rural roads, you recognise that once the local governments have these resources they would also be able to identify individuals that have the potential to cause trouble. The challenges they cannot handle they escalate up to the state level or federal agencies like DSS (Department of State Security),” he said.
Onuigbo linked the financial weakness of local governments to the wider problems of unemployment and insecurity, arguing that councils with adequate resources would be better placed to identify local needs and support productive activities.
He said, “We hope to see a situation where the president is commended for this impetus through the collaborative efforts of the officials at the subnational level so that we see development. One of the speakers spoke of what was happening within the regions in the First Republic.”
The former lawmaker, who sponsored Nigeria’s Climate Change Act in 2021, also pointed to the condition of some local government headquarters as evidence, in his view, that the third tier of government had been neglected.
“The fact that many local government council headquarters are overgrown with weeds is a ready sign that the state governors have banished the third tier of government, thereby denying cause of even development,” he said.
He urged voters to make the management of increased public revenues a key issue in the 2027 elections, insisting that state governments should be judged by what their allocations deliver to residents.
Onuigbo also argued that returning Tinubu to office would help prevent policy reversals that could undermine the gains he believes have resulted from the administration’s reforms.
He said the benefits of increased revenue would be more widely felt if federal, state and local governments worked together to support development beyond major urban centres.
“If we have a similar synergy among the local governments, state and federal levels, in no distant time you will have a well-rounded nation, where rural to urban migration and unemployment will be drastically reduced. We know we have the resources, and it needs to percolate down to the grassroots,” he added.