By Sanni Abdullahi
Fear has gripped local government chairmen across the country following the disclosure by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, that it has recovered more than N5.3 billion from local government accounts, and its renewed determination to intensify monitoring of council finances.
The anti-graft agency said the huge recovery followed a careful review of local government accounts in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, a development that has exposed the scale of financial irregularities at the grassroots and raised fresh questions about how council funds are managed.
The commission also plans to make all 774 local government councils in Nigeria publish their financial records and activities online as part of efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability at the grassroots.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this on Thursday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, during the flag-off of the ICPC-National Information Technology Development Agency Local Government Websites Pilot.
The initiative, which began in Nasarawa State, is expected to be extended to all local government areas in the country.
According to the ICPC boss, the era when local government funds could be spent in secrecy is over, as the new monitoring regime will place every council under the watchful eyes of citizens, the media and oversight institutions.
Aliyu said the recovery of the funds highlighted the scale of financial irregularities at the grassroots and the need for closer monitoring of public resources.
He said the Supreme Court judgment of July 2024, which affirmed the financial autonomy of local governments and direct payment of their statutory allocations, had made accountability in the management of council funds more important.
“Autonomy brings responsibility. Funds that now flow directly to the councils must be spent openly and for the benefit of the people,” he said.
Analysts say the statement has sent jitters through the ranks of council chairmen, many of whom are now under pressure to account for allocations received since the Supreme Court judgment granted financial autonomy to local governments.
With funds now flowing directly to the councils, rather than passing through state governments, the ICPC insists that chairmen must be ready to explain, with documents, how every naira is spent.
The ICPC chairman explained that the websites would operate on a standardised template developed under the commission’s Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments.
He said the platforms would require councils to publish information on their budgets, allocations, revenue, expenditure, audits and debts.
Other areas of disclosure would include public procurement, human resources, citizen engagement, whistleblowing channels and anti-corruption measures.
According to Aliyu, the platforms would allow residents to monitor public spending, while journalists and oversight institutions would have access to information needed to identify possible financial abuses.
“When these records are published regularly, citizens can follow the money, the media can ask informed questions and oversight institutions can detect risks early, before they become losses,” he said.
Under the new arrangement, residents will no longer have to depend on rumours or speculation to know how much their council received or what projects were executed. The information will be available online, for all to see, verify and question.
He urged local government chairmen to appoint dedicated officers to manage the websites and ensure that information published was accurate and regularly updated.
“A website is only as good as the information on it; one that is launched and then abandoned will only disappoint the people,” he added.
The ICPC chairman warned that the commission would not hesitate to act on any discrepancies discovered on the platforms or in the course of its monitoring, noting that the recovery of over N5.3 billion is only a pointer to what more thorough scrutiny could reveal.
Stakeholders at the flag-off described the initiative as a timely intervention that will deepen grassroots democracy, promote openness and restore public confidence in local government administration.
They also called on council chairmen to embrace the reform, rather than see it as a witch-hunt, saying transparency remains the strongest protection for any public officer who is clean.
With the pilot already taking off in Nasarawa State and plans underway to extend it to all 774 councils, the message from the ICPC is clear: autonomy has come with accountability, and there will be no hiding place for misuse of council funds.