A team has been established within the Office of the AGF to manage the direct distribution of funds to the 774 local governments nationwide. This initiative marks the beginning of the financial autonomy for the third tier of government, which is set to take effect this month.

The initial gathering of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for this year is set for Wednesday, where key operational details regarding direct fund distributions to the local governments are anticipated to be a major focus.

“Most of the 774 LGAs will fully start receiving their allocations from January 2025.

“Our committee will reconvene later this month to review its progress and finalise measures before the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) issues authorisation for the complete rollout.

 “No challenge to carry out the approval from the Minister to start making the disbursements to the LGAs. There won’t be a challenge because it’s something they (ministry officials) do day in day out for the states.

“A whole department is in charge of it, so it’s not going to be a challenge. The structure has been on the ground. I can confirm that,” a source told The Nation.

It was also reported that the Inter-Ministerial Committee will also tackle the actions of certain governors who are trying to erode the independence of democratically elected local government area chairmen, their deputies, and councilors.