Why most Governors are against Local Government Financial Autonomy 

LG
By Terfa Naswem
If Nigerian governors were transparent in the utilization of Local government allocations by bringing development to the grassroots, President Muhammadu Buhari won’t have pushed for financial autonomy for local governments and Nigerians won’t have supported it too.
It is because governors have failed to make the required impact on the 774 local governments in Nigeria using the local government allocations that led to Buhari’s stance that Local Government (LG) allocations will be directly sent to them from the federation.
Corruption unites people of all religions, tribes or political parties. That is why if a Christian and a Muslim governor agree to promote corruption, their religious differences will not hinder them. If an All Progressives Congress (APC) governor and peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor want to promote corruption, their different political affiliations will never stop them to unite.
That is why many APC and PDP governors are against LG financial autonomy because they have united in corruption. They know that once the financial autonomy for LG is implemented, they will not have direct access to such funds again.
Since governors have immunity and they are the only signatories to the state and local government joint account, they embezzle the money and nothing happens to them.
But if the local government council (LGC) chairmen are now signatories to their respective local government accounts, they will be closely monitored by Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) among others. Since LGC Chairmen don’t have immunity, they will be very careful in the utilization of the funds.
If they misappropriate such funds, they will be easily arrested and dealt with which will serve as deterrent to others and as a result, others will be afraid and ensure they bring development to the grassroots.
According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in Benue State, Gov Samuel Ortom received over N49bn in 2018 as LG allocations.
Each Local Government  Authority gets above a hundred million monthly.
Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) DISBURSEMENT DETAILS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN BENUE  (2018)
ADO
January _______________ = N172,536,505.15
February ______________ = N167,383,504.98
March ________________ = N169,399,431.47
April __________________ = N166,394,167.16
May __________________ = N178,821,083.07
June __________________ = N177,222,570.17
July ___________________ = N192,987,453.60
August ________________ = N182,315,931.85
September  ___________ = N187,680,367.72
October  ______________ = N183,063,730.54
November ____________ = N189,837,870.86
December ____________ = N201,365,381.04
TOTAL ________________ = N2,169,007,997.62
AGATU
January _______________ = N151,144,863.12
February ______________ = N146,551,059.17
March ________________ = N148,331,693.68
April __________________ = N145,701,398.57
May __________________ = N156,645,138.26
June __________________ = N155,259,293.47
July ___________________ = N169,157,003.91
August ________________ = N159,786,873.99
September ____________ = N164,345,549.63
Ocorner _______________ = N160,437,958.25
November _____________ =  N166,284,977.89
December _____________ = N176,517,956.54
TOTAL _________________ = N1,900,163,766.49
APA
January  ________________ = N145,835,433.18
February  _______________ = N141,340,848.37
March __________________ = N143,084,690.16
April ____________________ = N140,558,834.29
May ____________________ = N151,141,484.73
 June ___________________ = N149,788,789.38
July ____________________ = N163,264,054.49
August _________________ = N154,218,069.28
September _____________ = N158,492,770.76
October  ________________ = N154,847,892.66
November  _____________ = N160,405,275.38
December ______________ = N170,365,292.54
TOTAL __________________ = N1,833,343,435.23
BURUKU
January _______________ = N175,956,605.82
February ______________ = N170,906,172.55
March ________________ = N172,854,903.07
April __________________ = N169,734,526.36
May __________________ = N182,364,437.80
June __________________ = N180,827,171.89
July ___________________ = N196,691,743.34
August ________________ = N185,806,635.48
September ____________ = N191,707,296.03
October _______________ = N186,556,587.11
November ____________ = N193,767,705.74
December ____________ = N205,267,678.21
TOTAL ________________ = N2,212,441,463.40
GBOKO
January _______________ = N230,369,259.55
February ______________ = N223,818,809.73
March ________________ = N226,408,419.52
April __________________ = N222,356,560.31
May __________________ = N238,772,941.57
June __________________ = N236,656,211.34
July ___________________ = N257,350,598.15
August ________________ = N243,157,448.60
September ____________ = N250,942,944.67
October _______________ = N244,158,788.73
November _____________ = N253,611,415.36
December _____________ = N268,499,032.53
TOTAL _________________ = N2,896,102,430.06
GUMA
January _______________ =   N184,348,003.72
February ______________ =   N178,595,630.96
March ________________ =   N180,900,145.17
April __________________ =   N177,771,345.42
May __________________ =   N191,068,878.48
June __________________ =   N189,208,751.04
July ___________________ =  N206,305,604.69
August ________________ =   N194,923,868.34
September ____________ =   N200,116,479.72
October _______________ =   N195,745,216.97
November _____________ =  N202,594,156.37
December _____________ =  N215,191,450.44
TOTAL _________________ = N2,316,769,531.32
GWER EAST
January _______________ =    N174,417,265.52
February ______________ =    N168,943,564.32
March ________________ =    N171,128,433.99
April __________________ =    N168,168,227.21
May __________________ =    N180,773,827.21
June __________________ =    N179,021,891.09
July ___________________ =   N195,232,183.18
August ________________ =    N184,454,049.44
September ____________ =    N189,313,076.49
October _______________ =    N185,229,177.50
November _____________ =   N191,676,404.37
December _____________ =   N203,649,432.64
TOTAL  ________________ = N2,192,007,532.96
GWER WEST
January _______________ =    N150,520,721.14
February ______________ =    N146,053,784.15
March ________________ =    N147,767,193.59
April __________________ =    N145,116,072.41
May __________________ =    N155,996,880.12
June __________________ =    N154,672,091.44
July ___________________ =    N168,400,819.00
August ________________ =     N159,065,481.25
September ____________ =     N163,835,258.21
October _______________ =     N159,706,078.92
November _____________ =    N165,692,331.75
December _____________ =    N175,752,493.03
TOTAL _________________ =   N1,892,579,205.01
KATSINA ALA
January _______________ =    N191,123,981.59
February ______________ =    N185,364,790.07
March ________________ =     N187,650,846.64
April __________________ =    N184,354,334.03
May __________________ =    N198,091,391.73
June __________________ =    N196,248,401.48
July ___________________ =   N213,760,296.08
August ________________ =    N201,961,436.66
September ____________ =    N207,770,711.93
October _______________ =    N202,801,612.34
November _____________ =   N210,200,395.23
December _____________ =   N222,999,694.52
TOTAL _________________ =  N2,402,327,892.31
KONSHISHA
January _______________ =    N182,286,285.42
February ______________ =    N177,112,196.72
March ________________ =     N179,107,722.22
April __________________ =    N175,864,380.66
May __________________ =    N188,925,722.50
June __________________ =    N187,346,272.57
July ___________________ =   N203,720,028.22
August ________________ =    N192,448,643.04
September ____________ =    N198,676,448.34
October _______________ =    N193,224,313.35
November _____________ =   N200,772,646.93
December _____________ =   N212,604,593.20
TOTAL  ________________ =   N2,292,089,253.17
KWANDE
January _______________ =    N206,314,240.85
February ______________ =    N199,883,726.85
March ________________ =     N202,486,594.99
April __________________ =    N199,002,616.45
May __________________ =     N213,841,644.09
June __________________ =    N211,711,572.91
July ___________________ =    N230,833,394.04
August ________________ =     N218,118,297.41
September ____________ =     N223,917,764.61
October _______________ =     N219,046,163.61
November _____________ =    N226,690,810.60
December _____________ =    N240,744,360.14
TOTAL  ________________ =    N2,592,591,186.55
LOGO
January _______________ =    N160,003,253.95
February ______________ =    N155,534,215.68
March ________________ =    N157,217,732.08
April __________________ =    N154,329,769.68
May __________________ =    N165,824,339.91
June __________________ =    N164,527,225.59
July ___________________ =   N178,829,068.30
August ________________ =    N168,909,780.48
September ____________ =    N174,558,329.20
October _______________ =    N169,576,209.44
November _____________ =   N176,343,124.27
December _____________ =   N186,676,888.61
TOTAL  N2,012,329,937.18
MAKURDI
January _______________ =    N195,396,736.37
February ______________ =    N190,309,242.85
March ________________ =     N192,214,572.20
April __________________ =     N188,618,058.82
May __________________ =     N202,512,067.99
June __________________ =     N201,015,286.80
July ___________________ =    N218,088,724.64
August ________________ =     N206,007,403.00
September ____________ =     N213,640,125.77
October _______________ =     N206,812,582.13
November _____________ =    N215,574,871.18
December _____________ =    N227,675,766.58
TOTAL _________________ =   N2,457,865,438.34
OBI
January _______________ =    N140,289,947.49
February ______________ =    N136,181,967.79
March ________________ =     N137,732,879.59
April __________________ =    N135,234,794.54
May __________________ =    N145,389,985.17
June __________________ =    N144,212,313.73
July ___________________ =   N156,953,258.08
August ________________ =    N148,237,693.28
September ____________ =    N152,816,321.24
October _______________ =    N148,825,691.28
November _____________ =   N154,506,191.02
December _____________ =   N163,835,435.51
TOTAL _________________ =  N1,764,216,478.72
OGBADIBO
January _______________ =    N148,251,072.20
February ______________ =    N144,016,842.23
March ________________ =     N145,610,625.36
April __________________ =    N142,949,469.28
May _________________ =    N153,642,083.67
June __________________ =    N152,425,881.43
July ___________________ =   N165,776,926.11
Aug _ ust ________________ =    N156,574,681.11
September ____________ =    N161,626,904.70
October _______________ =    N157,192,996.84
November _____________ =   N163,341,663.21
December _____________ =   N173,052,682.35
TOTAL _________________ =  N1,864,461,828.50
OHIMINI
January _______________ =    N133,541,824.26
February ______________ =    N129,513,850.35
March ________________ =    N131,043,169.18
April __________________ =    N128,691,069.49
May __________________ =    N138,395,523.67
June __________________ =    N137,237,111.85
July ___________________ =   N149,488,888.23
August ________________ =    N141,186,626.82
September ____________ =    N145,306,502.12
October _______________ =    N141,750,799.01
November _____________ =   N146,993,840.60
December _____________ =   N156,032,472.45
TOTAL _________________ =  N1,679,181,678.04
OJU
January _______________ =   N170,489,864.18
February ______________ =   N165,356,638.99
March ________________ =   N167,368,468.04
April __________________ =   N164,408,769.88
May __________________ =   N176,699,780.14
June __________________ =   N175,104,880.73
July ___________________ =  N190,726,054.79
August ________________ =  N180,180,013.07
September ____________ =   N185,395,785.01
October _______________ =   N180,920,896.93
November _____________ =  N187,555,606.83
December _____________ =  N199,000,461.88
TOTAL ___________________ = N2,143,207,220.48
OKPOKWU
January _______________ =   N161,585,153.95
February ______________ =   N157,112,593.98
March ________________ =    N158,792,854.98
April __________________ =    N155,866,293.33
May __________________ =    N167,463,816.86
June __________________ =    N166,169,745.84
July ___________________ =   N180,570,481.61
August ________________ =    N170,553,868.94
September ____________ =    N176,342,286.79
October _______________ =    N171,224,827.00
November _____________ =   N178,117,204.01
December _____________ =   N188,500,485.30
TOTAL  ________________ =   N2,032,299,612.59
OTUKPO
 January  ______________ =  N190,425,205.02
February ______________ =  N185,193,505.73
March ________________ =   N187,193,843.97
April __________________ =   N183,763,255.98
May __________________ =   N197,361,317.42
June __________________ =   N195,777,931.36
July ___________________ =  N212,701,398.12
August ________________ =   N200,930,409.28
September ____________ =   N207,794,036.97
October _______________ =   N201,732,119.98
November _____________ =  N209,866,559.73
December _____________ =  N222,001,513.86
TOTAL  ________________ = N2,394,741,097.41
TARKA
January _______________ =    N129,644,818.13
February ______________ =    N125,973,922.51
March ________________ =    N127,321,036.54
April __________________ =    N124,963,913.76
May __________________ =    N134,352,792.25
June __________________ =    N133,359,746.57
July ___________________ =   N145,007,039.03
August ________________ =    N136,934,520.34
September ____________ =    N141,449,204.83
October _______________ =    N137,463,379.58
November _____________ =   N142,921,388.67
December _____________ =   N151,412,435.11
TOTAL _________________ =  N1,630,804,197.32
UKUM
January _______________ =    N179,233,886.09
February ______________ =    N174,143,489.10
March ________________ =    N176,103,311.51
April __________________ =    N172,912,354.30
May __________________ =    N185,761,366.58
June __________________ =    N184,214,197.21
July ___________________ =   N200,317,484.92
August ________________ =    N189,231,684.81
September ____________ =    N195,352,790.31
October _______________ =    N189,993,284.47
November _____________ =   N197,415,191.18
December _____________ =   N209,057,655.85
 TOTAL ________________ =   N2,253,736,696.32
USHONGO
January _______________ =    N173,466,857.35
February ______________ =    N168,377,024.43
March ________________ =     N170,355,416.76
April __________________ =    N167,308,705.33
May __________________ =    N179,784,570.21
June __________________ =    N178,220,215.83
July ___________________ =   N193,975,689.27
August ________________ =    N183,245,052.87
September ____________ =    N188,830,197.37
October _______________ =    N183,990,992.11
November _____________ =   N190,937,046.82
December _____________ =   N202,413,985.31
TOTAL ________________ =    N2,180,905,753.65
VANDEIKYA
January _______________ =  N184,846,991.82
February ______________ =  N179,565,029.76
March ________________ =   N181,611,070.82
April __________________ =  N178,334,605.53
May __________________ =  N191,580,771.01
June __________________ =  N189,955,553.51
July ___________________ =  N206,595,218.87
August ________________ =  N195,169,226.25
September ____________ =  N201,406,615.57
October _______________ =  N195,959,311.92
November _____________ = N203,557,056.85
December _____________ = N215,593,970.56
TOTAL ________________ =  N2,324,175,422.46
Grand Total __________________ = N49,437,349,055.11
The allocations to the Benue State government in 2018 was N55,441,078,188.72.
This is the reason most governors will continue to fight against LG financial autonomy since they will not have direct access to the allocations for their selfish and diabolical schemes.
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