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Moves to put all LGs’ budgets, spending online
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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has recovered over N5.3bn from local government accounts in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as part of efforts to strengthen financial accountability at the grassroots.
The commission also said it was working with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to ensure that all 774 local government areas in the country publish their budgets, allocations, revenue, expenditure and other financial records online.
According to a statement from the commission, its Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, during the flag-off of the ICPC-NITDA Local Government Websites Pilot.
He said the initiative, which commenced in Nasarawa, would be extended to all local government areas across the country to promote transparency and enable citizens to monitor how public funds are spent.
Aliyu said the July 2024 Supreme Court judgment affirming the financial autonomy of local governments and the direct payment of their statutory allocations had increased the need for accountability in the management of council funds.
According to him, the recovery of N5.3bn demonstrates the scale of financial risks at the grassroots and the importance of effective monitoring of local government accounts.
“Autonomy brings responsibility. Funds that now flow directly to the councils must be spent openly and for the benefit of the people,” he said.
The ICPC chairman explained that the websites would require local governments to regularly disclose information in five key areas, including financial records, open procurement, human resources, citizen engagement and corruption control.
He said the financial disclosure component would cover budgets, allocations, internally generated revenue, expenditure, audit reports and debts, while the citizen engagement section would provide channels for public feedback and whistleblowing.
Aliyu said the platforms would enable citizens to track public funds, help the media to ask informed questions and allow oversight institutions to identify financial risks before they resulted in losses.
He disclosed that NITDA had pledged to register domain names, and to develop and host the websites for at least one year, for all 774 local government areas.
He said that while ICPC would provide the content standards and accountability framework, NITDA would supply the technology and digital platforms.
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The chairman, however, warned that the effectiveness of the initiative would depend on the regular updating of information by local government authorities.
He urged council chairmen to appoint dedicated officers to manage the websites and to ensure that published records were accurate and up to date.
In his remarks, NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Abdullahi, said the initiative was designed to improve governance, strengthen citizen engagement and create economic opportunities.
He said the agency would establish standards, develop website templates and train citizens to support the sustainability of the platforms.
“Our ambition is not 774 websites. It is 774 digitally empowered local governments delivering better experience to millions of Nigerians,” he said.
Flagging off the pilot, Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, designated the Nasarawa State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency (NASITDEA) as the state’s technical partner for the initiative.
He directed local government councils to take responsibility for the accuracy of information published on their websites and to ensure that the platforms were regularly updated.
Sule said the success of the initiative would be determined by the accessibility, relevance and regular updating of information, rather than by the launch of the websites.
He also called on ICPC and NITDA to extend the transparency initiative to state governments, offering Nasarawa as the first state to publish similar financial disclosures.
The governor said such disclosures would enable citizens to establish where funds meant for local governments were being held up.
He added that with local government allocations made public as they were received, councils would no longer have grounds to claim that they could not pay workers because funds had not been released.
The Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Dr Danladi Jatau, pledged the legislature’s support for the initiative, recalling that the Constitution empowered the House to oversee local government finances.
The Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad I (rtd), also commended the ICPC, NITDA and the state government for the initiative.
