The 20 local governments in Ogun State have received N3,609,082,238.90, which include shares of statutory allocation, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Exchange Gain from the Federal Allocation for  September.

This was made known at the September 2022 edition of the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting at the Conference Hall, Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan Abeokuta, by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat.

He said the sharp drop in the month’s allocation would not affect the statutory payments of the councils, imploring them to intensify efforts at increasing their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in their jurisdictions, to cushion the effect of any shortfall that might arise from the federal allocation.

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The Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo, represented by the Permanent Secretary and Accountant-General, the State Treasury, Mr. Babatunde Aregbesola, presenting the financial breakdown of the collected allocation, said the local governments received  N3,609,082,238.90, explaining that N693,357,333.45 would be required to meet up for the full payment of first-line charges.

The first-line charges, he said, included: primary school teachers’ salary, local government employees’ salary, pensions, traditional councils and other charges, which amounted to N4,302,439,574.36.

He said in August, local government allocation was N4,685,649,984.81, which he noted was enough to meet up with the first-line charges of N4,302,439,574.81.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kolawole Fagbohun, said council chairmen could enhance the performance of their local governments by strengthening their legislative chambers.