The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) “over the failure to disclose the details of any direct payments to the 774 local government councils in Nigeria, including the amounts sent to each council.”

SERAP’s suit followed a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court last July, which held that allocations from the Federation Account with the CBN must be paid directly to democratically elected local government councils, and that no governor has the power to keep, control or use the money meant for the councils.

In the suit number FHC/L/MSC/521/2025 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP is asking the court to “direct and compel the CBN to disclose the details of any direct payments to the 774 local government councils in Nigeria including the amounts sent to each council since the Supreme Court judgment.”

SERAP is also asking the court to “direct and compel the CBN to disclose whether any direct payment has been made from the Federation Account with the CBN to the local government councils in Rivers State and to explain the rationale for any such payment.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “The CBN should make it possible for citizens to have access to the details of any direct payments to the 774 local government councils to ensure transparency and accountability, and judge whether the CBN and other agencies are complying with the Supreme Court judgment.”

SERAP is also arguing that “Granting the reliefs sought would go a long way in promoting the values and principles that underlie the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and are inherent characteristics of an open democratic society.”

According to SERAP, “State governors are starving local governments of funds and putting them in peril, despite the Supreme Court’s binding orders. State governors’ blatant disregard for the Supreme Court’s orders undermines the integrity of the court and poses a direct challenge to the rule of law.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “The CBN ought to act in the public interest to ensure that the 774 councils in the country directly get their own money from the Federation Account, as ordered by the Supreme Court.”

SERAP is arguing that, “The CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to ensure that no part of the Federation is governed contrary to the Nigerian Constitution or by anybody that is not constitutionally empowered to do so.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Oluwakemi Oni, read in part: “The CBN should be facilitating compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders. If state governors get away with ignoring the court, it will undermine the ability of the bank to credibly perform its statutory duties.”

“States and the FCT have continued to undermine and endanger the existence of local governments and their ability to effectively function as the third tier of government as envisioned under the Nigerian Constitution.”

“The CBN has a constitutional and statutory duty to protect the allocations in the Federation Account and the public funds disbursed from that Account directly to each of the constitutionally recognized three tiers of government.”

“The CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to protect any tier of the federal governance structure from going extinct or being destroyed.”

“Local government councils are legitimate owners of their allocations from the Federation Account.”

“Ensuring that all restrictions against direct disbursement of allocations from the Federation Account to the 774 councils will comply with the orders by the Supreme Court and stop states and the Federal Capital Territory from tampering with the allocations ahead of the 2027 general elections.”

“States and the FCT no longer have the right to retain the allocations for local governments in the Federation Account as they have persistently failed to use the allocations for the benefit of the local government councils and Nigerians.”

“The disbursement of the allocations meant for the 774 councils to states would be at the expense of poor Nigerians and continue to undermine the rights and well-being of those at the bottom of the economy and exacerbate the growing poverty in the country.”

“The CBN could play an important role in revitalising the 774 councils in the country and improving opportunities for Nigerians who reside in those councils. The CBN should not allow states to act in breach of the Supreme Court judgment and do whatever they like with the public funds meant for local government councils.”

“The CBN has a responsibility to comply with the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights and anticorruption obligations in the exercise of its statutory powers and functions.”

“Local government councils are entitled to a direct payment from the Federation Account of the amount standing to its credit in the said Federation Account. States should not be collecting, receiving, spending or tampering with the local government council funds from the Federation Account meant for the benefit of the councils.”

“The Supreme Court in a groundbreaking judgment declared that the Freedom of Information Act ‘is applicable and applies to the public records in the Federation’, including those kept by the CBN.”

“By the combined reading of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, applicable throughout Nigeria, there are transparency obligations imposed on the CBN to widely disclose the information sought by SERAP.”

“The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s anti-corruption and human rights obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their public institutions’ activities.”

“Nigeria’s Supreme Court in the July 2024 judgment declared unconstitutional and unlawful the retaining and using by the 36 state governors and FCT minister of allocations in the Federation Account meant for the 774 local governments in the country.”

“Following the judgment, the 774 local governments have reportedly opened dedicated accounts with CBN for the direct disbursement of allocations to them from the Federation Account.”

“Former president Muhammadu Buhari had in December 2022 stated that, ‘If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100m, N50m will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100m. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.’”

“According to Buhari, ‘If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100 million. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.’”

“According to reports, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared a total of N1.578 trillion among the three tiers of government as revenue generated in March 2025.”

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director

25/05/2025