Status report in FCT area councils after LG autonomy judgement

By Vincent Egunyanga, Abuja

The love-nest relationship between the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the six area councils in the nation’s capital is warmer after the July 11, 2024, Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy.

The Area Councils are Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), which houses the Federal Capital City (FCC), the Three Arms Zone, and the nation’s seat of power, Aso Villa; Bwari; Gwagwalada; Kuje, Kwali, and Abaji.

Recall that the apex court had, in a landmark judgment by its seven-member panel, chaired by Justice Mohammed Garba, held that federal allocations to the nation’s 774 LGs should be paid directly into the latter’s accounts.

Previously, states and LGs maintained a joint account, controlled by each State’s Executive, into which the funds were paid and then funnelled to LGs at the discretion, whims, and caprices of the state Governor. FCT, according to the constitutional provision, is “to be treated as if it were a State.”

The weird federal allocation arrangement in many States has led to most LGs being starved of funds needed for rural development, even though the LGs are the third tier of government and deemed closest to the grassroots.

Since the inception of the Fourth Republic, not a few LG chairmen have clashed with governors on the issue of a lack of funds for development.

However, the Supreme Court’s judgment has triggered a gush of financial freedom for LGs, with Nigerians expecting big things from the LG chairmen who, like governors, were also democratically elected.

In FCT, the new situation has not bred any bad blood between both tiers, as several council chairmen have confirmed, at various times, that FCTA has always handed councils their allocations intact.

The only difference this time is that, following the judgement, area councils will receive their allocations directly and not through FCTA.

The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Area Councils Services Secretariat (ACSS), Mr Bitrus Garki, told ThisNigeria that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has duly directed compliance with the court judgement.

Describing the Minister as a stickler for law, order, due process, and diligence, he said every staff member complied with the Ministerial order.

Garki spoke through the Secretariat’s Head of Information, Bibian Anozie.

Findings by ThisNigeria showed that in the June 2024 allocations, the FCTA disbursed N34.62bn to the area councils, teachers, and pension schemes.

The disbursement was executed during the 190th FCT Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) meeting in Abuja.

The FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, headed the meeting.

Area Council sources said that meeting could be the last, as the Supreme Court judgment begins to take effect.

“We’ve never touched or tampered with Area Councils’ funds here in FCTA; anyone is free to verify. As their allocations come, we religiously disburse them in an open ceremony such as the JAC meeting,” a director said.

“This is why the public doesn’t read or hear quarrels between Area Council Chairmen and the Honourable Minister- unlike in some states. Over the years, we duly give them their due.

“It’s their money, their allocation, so why should we touch it?” he queried.

With funds now going directly to Area Councils’ accounts, there is a heightened expectation on Council bosses to deliver the goods –or perish in electoral ruins.

A rural dweller, Malam Sani Idi, who resides in Orozo, AMAC, said Council Chairmen have no reason to fail the electorate, especially now the apex court verdict is further buoyed by allocations that are bursting at the seams due to President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy.

His words, “Area Council Chairmen are presently awash with cash. The court has helped them further as Council monies will no longer go through a third party.

“So, we don’t want any useless excuses over performance. They should give us exactly what we expect of them: do all bad rural roads, repair and equip primary schools, take care of primary health centres, give us soft loans to enhance economic capacity, and so on.”

The foodstuffs seller in the Bwari market, Mrs. Ann Idibia, spoke similarly.

Seizing the opportunity to lament the skyrocketing cost of food items and the urgent need to mitigate the same to save small businesses, Idibia opined that Area Chairmen have a role to play in this vexed issue.

She said, “Since they are the government we know as we can easily walk up to the Area Council Secretariat in our localities to complain, I expect them to find a way to reduce prices of foodstuffs from the sources where we buy.

“One way they can do this is to send security agents and Council officials to remote farms to plead with or caution farmers against selling to us at exorbitant prices. If we buy cheap, we too can sell cheap, and everyone, especially our customers, who accuse us every day, will be smiling too.

“Also, Chairmen should begin working on rural roads leading to farming communities immediately. Make such roads accessible. Provide security also, as Bwari is a den for kidnappers and terrorists. They should do all this because we hear they have been given more money, which now comes directly to them. God bless Nigeria.”

Unhinged from any ‘apron strings’ to FCTA, Area Councils will be under immense pressure to perform now that allocations are to reach them directly.

Keen watchers of developments in FCT’s grassroots tier say the Chairmen should roll up their sleeves this time and deliver visible dividends of democracy to residents.

If, for whatever existent or non-existent reasons, they could not perform, political Siberia looms for such.

They must fulfil their statutory mandates as stipulated in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

These include, but are not limited to, administering public primary schools and public health centres to give rural dwellers quality education and quality healthcare, thus checking rural-urban migration; providing usable feeder and rural road networks; ushering in the security of farmlands, properties, and lives of rural folks; and providing other basic infrastructure.

Road construction, management, and maintenance, in particular, are vital to the rural economy in FCT.

This is because, according to our findings in the Federal Ministry of Works, 66 percent of Nigeria’s road network, comprising 132,000 kilometres, is located in rural areas.

In the case of FCT, the imperative for better rural roads is even higher. Most of the working and commercial populace in FCC reside in rural areas as they cannot afford the multimillions of Naira required to live in the city.

A journalist in FCT, Mr Douglas Nnah, told ThisNigeria that Area Councils must now compete to be counted among the best performing in the country.

Nnah, who once resided in Bwari, added that it was public knowledge that FCTA has not been tampering with Council allocations, pointing out that with credible council polls, any Council Chair who failed to take advantage of the positive fallout of the Supreme Court judgment, should be voted out at the next poll day.

Residents of the nation’s capital are agog to see how the third tier reacts to the blessings being splashed on them due to the judicial windfall.

With rising demand for action, there is no denying that the FCT ACSS is responsible for monitoring, checking, and ensuring grassroots dwellers get value for their money.

The Federal Government, which headed to the Supreme Court over the LG autonomy matter –and won there- has done its part.

A lot of devolves to the ACSS to check Council Chairmen.

Its mandate has already been cut out.

From the official website fcta.gov.ng, this paper found out that the ACSS’s statutory mandate includes the following: “The Area Council Services Secretariat supervises all administrative and supplies matters. Provides services in the establishment, training, staff welfare, discipline/open/confidential registry, and supervises stores, archives, tenders, due process, etc.

“Takes inventory & analyses the location distribution of various projects, assesses the viability of proposed projects, assesses and compels adherence to due process, helps build Area Council Works Department capacity on standing practices of project Administration and Management.

“Coordinates the developmental process in the Area Councils and helps check youth restiveness in the Area Councils. Provides health facilities in the Area Councils, monitors the existing health matters in the Area Councils, and access the quality of health services rendered to the Area Council.”

Therefore, monitoring bodies such as ACSS, rural-focused nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based bodies, foreign development partners with projects in remote areas, and others must keep a close eye on fund application and deployment in FCT’s villages and hamlets and raise the red flag whenever infractions are noticed.

One method is to partner with the press. Engaging with the media, society’s conscience and watchdog will help keep council bosses on their toes.