Nigeria runs a Federal System. This means power AND money are shared. Once the Federal Government sends each state its monthly allocation from the Federation Account, it has NO legal right to tell that state how to spend it. Your Governor controls that money — and only your Governor answers for how it is used.
🇳🇬 What is the Constitution?
The Nigerian Constitution is the supreme rule book of the country. It decides who gets what power and what the government — at every level — can and cannot do. No person, President or Governor, can act against it legally.
The Federal Government is like the CEO of Nigeria. It manages what affects the entire country — defence, currency, oil revenue, immigration. But being the "CEO" does NOT mean it controls how states spend their share of national revenue.
Executive
President + Vice President + Ministers run the country day to day.
Legislature
Senate (109 seats) + House of Reps (360 seats) make federal laws.
Judiciary
Supreme Court + Appeal Courts interpret and protect the laws.
✅ What Only the Federal Govt Can Do
These are on the Exclusive Legislative List — states have zero authority here:
Once a state's monthly FAAC allocation leaves Abuja and enters the state's account, the Federal Government has no constitutional power to instruct the Governor on how to spend it. The President cannot order a Governor to build roads, pay teachers, or fix hospitals with that money. That is the Governor's decision alone — and the Governor's responsibility alone.
💡 Real Life Example
When infrastructure is bad in your state, many people blame Abuja. But your National ID? Federal. International passport? Federal. JAMB? Federal. WAEC? Federal. However — the road in your street, your public hospital, your secondary school? Those are your Governor's responsibility, funded from your state's allocation. Don't let any politician shift that blame.
Each state is governed by a Governor who is elected every four years. The Governor is NOT an employee or representative of the Federal Government — they are a separate, independently elected leader accountable to the people of their state.
Executive
Governor + Deputy + Commissioners manage the state.
Legislature
State House of Assembly makes state laws and approves the state budget.
Judiciary
High Courts + Sharia courts (in applicable states).
Under the Nigerian Constitution, states are financially independent. Every month, each state receives its share from the Federation Account (FAAC). The Governor then presents a state budget — approved by the State House of Assembly — and decides how to allocate funds to education, health, roads, and other needs. The Federal Government has no say in this process.
✅ What State Govt Is Responsible For
These are funded from the state's own allocation — not from a "federal release":
Every month, your state receives billions of naira from FAAC. If roads are broken, hospitals have no drugs, or teachers go unpaid — your Governor must answer for it. The Federal Government cannot be blamed for how a state spends its own allocation. Ask your Governor: "Where is our FAAC money going?"
💡 Real Life Example
Lagos State received over ₦200 billion in FAAC allocations in 2023 alone — separate from its own internally generated revenue (IGR). What Lagos does with that money — BRT buses, schools, hospitals — is Lagos's decision. Kano, Rivers, Kaduna all receive their own billions too. Abuja does not control how any of them spend it. So when your state is in bad shape, look at your Governor first.
The LGA is the government closest to your daily life, led by a Chairman. Like states, LGAs receive their own share from the Federation Account. But in practice, state governments routinely interfere with — and sometimes steal — LGA funds.
Executive
Chairman + Vice Chairman + Supervisors manage the LGA.
Legislature
Councillors represent each ward and approve the LGA budget.
Services
Markets, primary schools, sanitation, birth records, local roads.
The Constitution and the 1999 Local Government Act state that LGAs must receive their FAAC share directly into their own accounts. No state governor is legally permitted to collect, hold, or redirect LGA allocations. LGA Chairmen are meant to prepare their own budgets and spend independently.
In many Nigerian states, Governors illegally pool LGA funds into a "Joint Account", effectively controlling the money themselves. This is unconstitutional. In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that states must release LGA funds directly to LGAs without deduction. If your LGA is doing nothing, ask: is the Governor holding your LGA's money?
✅ What Your LGA Should Be Doing With Its Money
💡 Real Life Example
Your birth certificate, voter registration, community borehole, and the primary school near your house — those are all LGA responsibilities. If your LGA Chairman says "we have no money", find out what happened to your LGA's FAAC allocation. The money was sent. The question is: who is holding it?
Nigeria pools most of its national revenue — mainly from oil — into one pot called the Federation Account. Every month, this money is shared between the Federal, State, and Local Governments at a meeting called FAAC. Here is how it works:
Once each government receives its share, the Constitution does not allow any higher tier to dictate how a lower tier spends its allocation. The Federal Government cannot tell states what to do with their share. States are not supposed to control LGA funds either. Each tier is fiscally sovereign within its own area of responsibility.
❌ Federal Govt CANNOT
- Tell a Governor how to spend state allocation
- Withhold a state's FAAC share as punishment
- Order a state to build a specific road
- Force a state to use funds for federal projects
- Control a state's internally generated revenue (IGR)
✅ Federal Govt CAN
- Offer conditional grants for specific programmes
- Set national minimum standards (e.g. for education)
- Investigate corruption via EFCC/ICPC
- Intervene in security crises under the Constitution
- Legislate on items in the Exclusive List
Many Nigerian politicians use "Abuja has not released funds" as an excuse for failure at the state level. Now you know the truth: states receive their FAAC every month whether or not the Federal Government "releases" anything. Your Governor has money. Demand to know where it goes. Check your state's monthly FAAC figures — they are published by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
🔍 How to Hold Government Accountable
Every Nigerian youth should know how to track government money: