A former Secretary General of the Association of Local Government Council of Nigeria (ALGON), Chikwe Udensi, says local governments in Nigeria require at least half of the country’s revenue to develop the rural areas.
“The minimum that is required for the development of the local governments and rural areas is at least half of the revenue of this country,” Mr Udensi stated on Friday as a guest on Focus Nigeria aired on AIT.
Mr Udensi, a systems consultant to the INTERPOL, was the secretary general of ALGON between 2008 and 2014.
Under the current revenue-sharing formula in Nigeria, the federal government takes 52.68 per cent, the 36 states and the FCT get 26.72 per cent, while the 774 local government areas in the country get 20.60 per cent.
Mr Udensi, who advocates increased revenue allocation to the local governments, said over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population lives in the rural areas where local governments operate.
He said state governors meddled in the…