Power Shift: Senate Moves To End State Control, Demands FAAC Access For All 774 LGAs

The Nigerian Senate has urged the federal government to restructure the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) by including representatives from all 774 local government areas (LGAs) and area councils across the 36 states and the FCT.

This call comes after the Senate observed that Section 5 of the Allocation of Revenue (Federation Account, etc.) Act 1981 only permits representation from the federal and state governments, effectively excluding local governments—the nation’s constitutionally recognized third tier of governance.

To address this, the Senate resolved to formally notify the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun—who chairs FAAC—urging urgent reforms. It also announced plans to seek concurrence from the House of Representatives.

The resolution stemmed from a motion titled “Urgent Need to Alter the Composition of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) by Including Representatives of Local Governments and Area Councils,” sponsored by Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North), and presented during Tuesday’s plenary by Senator Isah Jibrin (APC, Kogi East).

Presenting the motion, Senator Jibrin emphasized that, under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution, LGAs are recognized as the third tier of government, and under Section 162(3), are entitled to direct allocations from the Federation Account.

He cited several Supreme Court rulings affirming that states are merely intermediaries for passing federal allocations to LGAs and possess no ownership or discretion over the funds. The court also held that direct disbursement to LGAs better aligns with the constitutional intent and ensures smoother and more transparent governance.

Jibrin concluded by stressing that indirect payments through states have failed in practice and that justice demands the allocations henceforth be paid directly to LGAs.