Chief Kunle Sanda received only ₦534 from the entire federal allocation meant for Lagelu Local Government Area. Despite a Supreme Court order for direct payments, state governments still control an estimated ₦7.43 trillion for local councils since the ruling. KEHINDE ADEGOKE writes.
Chief Kunle Sanda’s experience should give every Nigerian pause.
As chairman of Lagelu Local Government Area in Ibadan, he received no allocation throughout his tenure—except on one occasion, when he received his entire federal allocation: ₦534.
Not ₦534 million. Not ₦534,000.
Five hundred and thirty-four naira.
“That was my allocation,” he said. “After the deductions, we don’t have anything. We were always on zero allocation.”
When Sanda left office in 2002, the council owed him 27 months of his own salary. He kept the council running through town planning fees, market levies, and whatever small sums he could raise from internally generated revenue—sharing whatever arrived among staff at 10 or 20 per cent of their salaries, month after month, year after year.
Sanda is not describing the distant past. Instead, his experience reveals a system that—despite a landmark Supreme Court judgment, presidential warnings, attorney-general threats, and civil society campaigns—still operates in Nigeria today.
The Supreme Court Spoke. The Governors Did Not Listen.
On July 11, 2024, Nigeria’s Supreme Court delivered what was widely described as the most significant local government judgment in the country’s history. The court ruled it unconstitutional for state governments to retain or manage funds allocated to local councils. It ordered direct payments from the Federation Account to all 774 local government areas and declared the State–Local Government Joint Account system an instrument of abuse. One analyst called it transformational.
Nineteen months later, that Supreme Court order has not led to consistent change. As of December 2025, there is no verified number of local governments currently enjoying full autonomy in practice. Across most states, council funds are still controlled by governors, with administrative bottlenecks, resistance from state executives, and new conditions reportedly introduced by financial regulators slowing compliance.
Between July 2024 and December 2025—the period since the Supreme Court’s ruling—state governments retained control of at least ₦7.43 trillion in council funds through the Joint Account framework, which the ruling was supposed to dismantle. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, states controlled ₦1.46 trillion allocated to local government areas—meaning the old order remains largely intact nearly two years after the Supreme Court ordered it dismantled.
Chief Sanda received ₦534 in one of his “lucky” months. Nigerian governors collectively control ₦1.46 trillion in LGA funds each quarter. The numbers have changed beyond recognition. The system has not moved an inch.
Methods sidebar — How we calculated ₦7.43tn and ₦1.46tn
The ₦7.43 trillion figure covers July 2024 through December 2025 and was derived from monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to local governments reported by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General’s office, aggregated across all 774 LGAs. The ₦1.46 trillion figure is Q1 2026 LGA allocations retained under state-controlled arrangements. Full FAAC tables and methodology are available for review at the newsroom.
The Mechanism Sanda Named — Still Running
Sanda described the specific mechanism by which his allocation was consumed before it reached him: teachers’ salaries. The state government employed primary school teachers—then deducted their wages directly from Lagelu’s federal allocation before releasing any balance to the council. “The funds were deducted from the source,” Sanda said.
“All the funds coming to the local government would be deducted for teachers,” he said. Although the teachers were employed by the state government, we paid them. And at times, there was nothing left.”
Lagelu had 44 primary schools and over 100 teachers on its payroll. With the deduction mechanism in place, Sanda’s highest single allocation during his tenure remained ₦9 million, received once. His monthly figures ranged from ₦5 million to ₦7 million. After teachers’ salaries, nothing remained.
Today, this same mechanism—in various forms—continues across Nigeria. For example, some state governors have reportedly instructed local government chairmen not to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria for the direct receipt of federal allocations, openly defying the Supreme Court’s order. While the tactics evolve, the result remains the same.
₦7.43 Trillion — The Scale of What Sanda Described
Atiku Abubakar—former vice president who has watched this system operate for decades—stated that by July 2026, the federal government will have spent two full years ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling, describing it not as a delay but as “defiance.” He calculated that continued withholding has crippled communities, stalled development, and deepened poverty at the grassroots level. “Roads are still broken, health centres abandoned, salaries unpaid — not by accident, but by choice,” he said.
That is precisely what Chief Sanda described from his own experience in Lagelu — broken infrastructure, unpaid salaries, and abandoned services — not because the money did not exist, but because it never arrived.
Anambra State went further than most, enacting a law in October 2024 that compelled councils to remit part of their allocations to the Joint State–Local Government Account — effectively legislating the very mechanism the Supreme Court had just declared unconstitutional. A state passed a law to continue what a court said must stop. That is not defiance. That represents institutional contempt.
The Chairmen Who Surrendered Their Own Cause
Sanda reserved some of his sharpest words not for the governors, but for the local government chairmen who, he said, actively undermined their own financial autonomy by writing letters to reject it.
“Most of them don’t understand why they were there. They thought they were there by the grace of the governor, and not by the grace of the people. The people voted for them, but they stood to defend the governor — to take whatever he wants to give — because they don’t want to offend him.”
“They were appointed. They know he can remove them. So they don’t want autonomy. They were serving the governor, not the people.”
This pattern persists today. Experts observe that governors have exploited constitutional ambiguities and the political dependence of council chairmen to maintain control, with some chairmen actively cooperating in arrangements that deprive their own councils of funds.
The chairmen who surrendered their autonomy to governors are the same chairmen whose residents live without roads, functioning health centres, or paid civil servants. The connection between political submission and grassroots suffering is clear, documented, and continuing.
The Governor Who Received ₦300 Million. The Governors Who Receive ₦20 Billion.
Perhaps the most striking dimension of Sanda’s account is the revenue comparison he drew — one that places the current crisis in a devastating context.
“When Alhaji Lam Adeshina was our governor, the highest he received was ₦600 million. The usual amount was about ₦300 million per month,” he said. “Now some states are receiving over ₦20 billion per month — even more.”
Despite rising revenues, nothing has changed at the grassroots. There has been a sixty-fold increase in state revenues, but the same broken governance: unpaid council workers, abandoned primary schools, and allocations like Sanda’s ₦534—now dressed in larger numbers yet delivering the same outcome.
The Supreme Court’s Unenforced Verdict — and What Must Happen
With these realities in mind, Chief Sanda’s verdict on governors who ignore the Supreme Court judgment is unambiguous.
“It is a stupid idea for the Supreme Court to give a judgment, and you ignore it. It is the governor’s stupidity. If he has a case, take it to court. But some of them have not implemented the Supreme Court judgment up to now.”
The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, has warned that governors who defy the ruling could face contempt proceedings and that state attorneys-general who advise non-compliance could face disciplinary action from the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee for professional misconduct. Those warnings were issued in December 2024. As of May 2026, states are still controlling ₦1.46 trillion in LGA allocations per quarter. The warnings have not been enforced. The contempt proceedings have not been filed. The disciplinary actions have not been taken. And at Nigeria’s 774 local government areas — the tier of government closest to the people — the money is still not arriving.
Governors’ Forum Response
Following the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) issued statements stressing that while they respect the judgment, implementation demanded definite guidelines from the federal government and financial regulators. Governors argued that teacher salaries and primary education funding remain a state responsibility, and that direct allocations to councils without harmonisation could unsettle payrolls. They defended joint accounts as mechanisms for coordination and accountability, although critics insist they are tools of control. Some governors claimed they had begun reforms, but civil society groups report that compliance is largely cosmetic. The NGF maintains that local government autonomy must be pursued without destabilising state finances, a position widely criticised as a pretext for continued defiance.
The Dig
Chief Kunle Sanda was used to receiving zero allocation until he got a surprising alert of ₦534 in one month as a local government chairman. He left office owing 27 months of salary. He ran his council on town planning fees and market levies. He watched teachers consume his entire allocation before a naira reached his hands.
That was over 20 years ago.
Today, Nigerian governors are collectively controlling ₦1.46 trillion in funds that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has explicitly, formally, and finally ordered paid directly to local governments.
The ₦534 has become ₦1.46 trillion. The mechanism is identical. The outcome is unchanged. And the people at the end of the chain — the residents of Lagelu, and Bade, and Eti-Osa, and Kano Municipal, and all 774 councils across Nigeria — are still waiting for a government that was supposed to reach them decades ago.
Chief Sanda’s story is not history. It is a prophecy that came true — and keeps coming true — every single month.
Chief Kunle Sanda served as the Chairman of Lagelu Local Government Area in Ibadan. He is the current Baale of Alegongo, Ibadan. This report draws on an interview conducted by Kehinde Adegoke for TheDiggerNews.com and independent research into the implementation status of the Supreme Court’s July 2024 local government autonomy judgment.
Editor’s note: This report is based on a direct, on-the-record interview conducted by Kehinde Adegoke with Chief Kunle Sanda, former Chairman of Lagelu Local Government Area and current Baale of Alegongo, Ibadan. Sanda’s account reflects his personal experience during his tenure. The national figures cited (₦7.43 trillion and ₦1.46 trillion) are derived from independent research using Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements and official transfers data compiled by TheDiggerNews.com. Full data tables and methodology are available for review at the newsroom.
𝗞𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀, 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗔𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺, 𝗔𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀, 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺.
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