An Oblong Media Unlimited report building on earlier Oblong Media analyses on fiscal federalism and the capture of local government resources.
President Bola Tinubu has moved the long running dispute over local government finances into the open, warning state governors that he may issue an executive order and enforce direct FAAC deductions if they continue to frustrate the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to Nigerias third tier of government.
The warning was delivered at the 15th National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja. Speaking before governors and party leaders, Tinubu was unusually direct.
The Supreme Court has capped it for you again, saying give them their money directly.
If you wait for my Executive Order, because I have the knife, I have the yam, I will cut it.
The message was clear. Compliance is no longer optional.
A Judgment Governors Can No Longer Evade
On July 11 2024, the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a decisive ruling affirming that allocations to local governments must be paid directly from the Federation Account as provided under Section 162 subsections 5 to 8 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The court held that
State governments have no constitutional authority to retain or manage local government funds
The State Local Government Joint Account system has been widely abused and violates the spirit of the constitution
Starving councils of funds amounts to a structural attack on grassroots governance
As the President himself acknowledged
The ultimate goal is our Supreme Court. We have to comply. We have to respect the judgment.
This position aligns with earlier Oblong Media reports which traced how joint accounts became tools for elite control, reducing elected councils to hollow administrative shells while power and resources were centralised at state level.
Why Tinubu Is Forcing the Issue Now
The threat of FAAC by FAAC enforcement is not casual talk. It reflects three hard political realities.
1. Quiet Defiance by Governors
Months after the ruling, implementation remains weak across most states. Delays, committees and technical excuses have replaced action, a pattern Oblong Media has repeatedly documented.
2. Control of the Grassroots Economy
Local governments are the real engines of political power. Whoever controls council funds controls ward structures, mobilisers, chairmen and election machinery. Financial autonomy weakens that grip.
3. Federal Authority on Trial
A federal government that allows open defiance of Supreme Court rulings undermines itself. Tinubu understands that failing to enforce this judgment would weaken the presidency and the judiciary at the same time.
The FAAC Pressure Point
By threatening direct deductions at FAAC, Tinubu is signalling readiness to bypass governors altogether.
In practical terms this means
Allocations paid straight into council accounts
Loss of discretionary control by state governments
Compliance driven by financial reality rather than negotiation
As Tinubu warned
FAC after FAC, you will see.
Oblong Media View
As argued in earlier reports on http://www.oblongmedia.net, Nigeria cannot fix insecurity, poverty or democratic decay while local governments remain financial captives. What the President has done is drag a long running hypocrisy into daylight.
The unanswered question is whether this is a sincere attempt to rebalance Nigerian federalism or a calculated move to weaken governors while strengthening the centre.
Either way, the era of silent joint account abuse is under pressure.
The warning has been issued.
The mechanism has been identified.
The next FAAC meeting will tell the story.
By Hon. Chima Nnadi-Oforgu
OBLONG MEDIA UNLIMITED 
Leave a comment