The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for allegedly failing to disclose details of any direct payments made to Nigeria’s 774 local government councils, including councils in Rivers State.
SERAP revealed on its website on Sunday that the suit numbered FHC/L/MSC/521/2025 was filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
In the suit, SERAP asked the court to compel the CBN to reveal the amounts sent directly to each local government council since the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in July 2024.
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The ruling mandated that allocations from the Federation Account must be paid directly to democratically elected local councils and prohibited state governors from controlling the funds.
SERAP also requested the court to direct the CBN to confirm whether it had made any such payments to the local government councils in Rivers State and to provide the rationale behind those transactions.
In its application, filed by solicitors Kolawole Oluwadare and Oluwakemi Oni, SERAP argued that disclosing the details of direct payments would ensure transparency, accountability, and public oversight of the CBN’s compliance with the Supreme Court judgment.
“State governors continue to starve local governments of funds in defiance of the Supreme Court’s binding orders, thereby threatening the rule of law and undermining the integrity of the judiciary,” SERAP stated.
The organisation stressed that the CBN had both a constitutional and statutory obligation to protect allocations from the Federation Account and ensure that funds reach all three tiers of government as prescribed by law.
According to SERAP, any failure to comply with the Supreme Court judgment would endanger the autonomy of local governments, increase poverty, and deprive millions of Nigerians at the grassroots of development opportunities.
“Local government councils are legitimate recipients of funds from the Federation Account and must receive allocations directly, without interference from state governors or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” SERAP said.
The group cited the Supreme Court’s ruling, which affirmed the applicability of the Freedom of Information Act to all public institutions, including the CBN, and imposed a duty on the apex bank to make such financial records accessible to citizens.
Following the court’s ruling in July 2024, Nigeria’s 774 local governments reportedly opened dedicated accounts with the CBN for the direct receipt of funds from the Federation Account.
SERAP also referenced a statement by former President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2022, in which he alleged widespread misappropriation of local government funds.
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Buhari claimed that local council chairmen often received only a portion of the allocated funds and signed for the full amount, sharing the balance with unnamed individuals.
In March 2025, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) reportedly disbursed a total of N1.578 trillion in revenue to the three tiers of government.
