All LGAs to Start Receiving Direct Funding from Federation Account

All 774 local governments in the country are set to receive direct funding from the federation account.

This development follows the opening of accounts by every LGA with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Alhaji Ilyasu Zakari, chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Niger State Chapter, confirmed in Minna last weekend that all local governments have now opened CBN accounts.

Chairman of Agwara Local Government Area, Zakari, spoke to reporters after attending the Niger State Day at the 22nd National Trade Fair in Minna and said the move has been communicated to the governors’ forum.

“When I had an interaction with the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, recently, I told them that all 774 local governments in the country have opened accounts with the CBN,” Zakari said.

When asked when the direct disbursements would begin, Zakari replied, “it is a work in progress.”

Opening accounts by local governments is a mandatory prerequisite for the direct disbursement of funds to all LGAs.

Meanwhile, Niger State Governor Alhaji Mohammed Umaru Bago has approved the deployment of drones across the state’s forests to combat terrorists and bandits hiding there.

Commissioner for Investments Alhaji Aminu Sulaiman Takuma told reporters in Minna that the measure aims to sanitize the forests and make the state more attractive to potential foreign and local investors.

Niger State is bordered by forests such as Kainji, Kagara, and Shiroro, from which terrorists and bandits have been wreaking havoc and deterring investment.

Takuma said, “All these will soon be over as the state will be made conducive for investors after the terrorists have been flushed out. There will be no more hiding place for bandits and terrorists anywhere in the state.”

He added that a gold‑mining and processing factory will be established in the state and that the government has already secured the commitment of an Australian firm to fund the project, though the factory’s location and cost were not disclosed.

To boost industrial development, the Commissioner said the government is also focusing on providing infrastructure throughout the state, which he said would ease the movement of goods and services.