· No record of IGR
· Abuja residents say “nothing to show”
· Council officials mum
The six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory collectively received N38,363billion in 2022, as their share of statutory allocation from the Federation Account.
Cumulative allocations to the councils for the year show that Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, received the largest share of the allocation, as it accumulated a total of N8,826,376, 112.77billion between January to December 2022.
This was followed by Bwari Area Council which received a total of N6,387,046,097.78 billion, then Gwagalada Area Council which accumulated a total of N5,997,140,805.7billion in the year under review.
Also, between January to December 2022, Kwali Area Council got a total of N5,828 001,083.17 billion, Kuje received N5,815 551,350.53, while Abaji got the least allocation of N5,517 800,004.19 billion.
The figures are outside the internal generated revenue of the affected area councils as the administrations of the councils were not forthcoming with the details of their earnings.
A month by month analysis of allocation by the FCT Joint Account Allocation Committee, JAAC, meetings shows that in January 2022, the six area councils received a total sum of N3,562,934,772.37 as their share of allocation from the Federation Account.
Out of the amount, Abaji Area Council got N539,443,681.06 in January 2022, while AMAC received N746,438,673.81, Bwari Area Council got N593,235,910.31, Gwagalada received N569,288,052.10, Kuje received N556,837,864.39 while Kwali received N557,690,590.69.
In February 2022, the six area councils received a total of N3,592,846,301.74, out of which, Abaji took home, N540,034,795.97, AMAC received, N761,947,190.74, Bwari, N598,353,909.23, Gwagalada got N572,189,283.30, Kuje N559,446,864.93 and Kwali N560,874,257.54 as their share of allocation.
Of the amount, the area councils received N13,591,705.12 as argumentation from 10 percent IGR
received by FCT shared to the areas councils to augment the allocation from federation.
Investigations by The Abuja Inquirer revealed that allocation to the six area councils slightly appreciated in March 2022 as the councils received N3,965,107,151.48.
The increase reflected in allocations to the area councils as Abaji received N591,086,513.05, AMAC got N855,026,610.76 while Bwari received N660,260,187.86. Gwagalada also received N629,284,037.98, Kuje N613,951,181.74 and Kwali received N615,498,620.09 as their share of allocations for the month of March.
The area councils, however, experienced a downward sloop in federal allocation in the second quarter of 2022, as allocation dropped from N2,974,104,257.02 in April 2022, to N2,903,139,412.86 in June same year.
From the N2,974,104,257.02 allocation for April, Abaji received N433,313,263.75, AMAC got N668,186,174.40, Bwari N495,264,603.52, Gwagalada got N467,401,114.37, Kuje, N454,154,920.88 and Kwali received N455,814,181.11.
The decline continued in May 2022, with JAAC allocation dropping to N2,918,292,782.67 with Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagalada, Kuje and Kwali area councils receiving N415,210,966.76, N690,357,954.31, N485,193,127.72, N454,508,772.51, N436,544,402.38, and N436,477,558.99 for the month respectively.
In June, the councils collectively took home a total of N2,903,139,412.86 as their share from the Federation Account.
Expectedly, Abaji allocation for June 2022 dropped to N407,435,051.77, AMAC dropped to N694,530,956.67, Bwari N483,411,208.37, Gwagalada, N449,163,497.29, Kuje reduced to N433,168,186.25 and Kwali N435,430,512.49.
The decline was sustained through a greater part of the third quarter of 2022, with allocation dropping to N2,892,081,930.29 in July and N2,648,651,923.16 in August, but then picked up in September, when N3,077,778,703.88 was shared to the areas councils.
Abaji Area Council then received a total of N392,630,508.63 as allocation for July, while AMAC got N725,078,604.38, Bwari Area Council received N481,825,474.55, Gwagalada got N441,248,939.24, Kuje, N432,859,121.22 while Kwali received N427,439,282.29.
In August, Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagalada, Kuje and Kwali area councils received N373,562,133.06, N631,476,729.33, N440,756,884.11, N410,789,691.50, N395,434,936.77, and N396,631,548.40 respectively.
The increase in September saw Abaji receiving N438,378,550.62, AMAC, N719,176,018.47, Bwari, N512,468,465.94, Gwagalada area council, N479,137,768.17, Kuje N463,289,199.10 and Kwali N465,328,701.58 from the N3,077,778,703.88 shared to the areas councils that month.
A marginal increase was, however, recorded in the October allocation, as the area councils received a total of N3,049,291,338.39.
Of the amount, Abaji received N434,294,980.06, AMAC received N713,734,534.58, Bwari N507,611,146.78, Gwagalada received N474,755,288.72, Kuje got N458,596,820.43 while Kwali received N460,298,567.82.
In November 2022, the six area councils received a total sum of N3,042,872,032.49, as their allocation for the month, with Abaji Area Council receiving the sum of N422,224,363.25, AMAC received, N741144,392.67, Bwari Area Council got N506,661,015.84, Gwagalada got N468,587,814.56, Kuje received N450,855,416.98 while Kwali received N453,399,030.18.
December 2022 saw a leap in allocation from the Federation Account, as total allocation to the six area councils rose to N3,736,184,845.75.
Consequently, Abaji Area Council received an allocation of N530,185,196.21, AMAC received an allocation of N879,278,272.65 while Bwari got N622,004,163.55. Other area councils including Gwagalada got N580,786,545.96, Kuje received N560,812,435.46 and Kwali received N563,118,231.99.
Despite the relatively high allocation to the area councils, residents say there was no commensurate development on ground especially in rural communities and satellite towns of the territory.
For instance, a public officer in Bwari Area Council, Obadiah Shamaki, believes the councils still have a lot to achieve in area of infrastructure development and city sanitation.
Shamaki said the level of dirt across the area councils says a lot about the performance of the council chairmen.
Some other residents, who spoke with our correspondent, accuse the six council chairmen of reneging on their campaign promises and focusing only on payment of salaries without focusing on other sectors.
A resident who gave his name as Onuche Egahi, said, “The allocation the councils are receiving does not reflect on the society. Most of them think their responsibilities stops at just paying of salaries, but about those of us who are not council workers? How do we feel the impact of the council chairmen if they don’t carry out their basic roles?”
Efforts to get the reactions of the council areas proved unsuccessful as none of them was willing to engage on their revenue earnings.
