LG Funds: Nigerians should be vigilant- Joe Igbokwe

As the Federal Government prepares to begin direct disbursement of allocations to the Local Governments, Joe Igbowe, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State and former Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has urged Nigerians to be vigilant to prevent diversion of local government (LG) funds into private hands.

Igbokwe gave this charge in a post on his Facebook wall on Friday.

He said that as the direct disbursement commences, Nigerians must monitor how the funds are expended to promote accountability at the grassroots.

Igbokwe said, “Now that 774 Local Government will be getting nearly 500m every month plus the revenue generated, let Nigerians put their eyes, ears on the ground to know how the money is spent.

“We do not want the money to be used to buy houses.”

On Monday, the National President of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Bello Lawal Yandaki, disclosed that the 774 local governments were to open dedicated accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to enable the direct disbursement of LG allocations from the Federation Account.

He said this was critical to implementing the Supreme Court ruling on financial autonomy for local governments.