The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Federal High Court in Lagos (Suit No: FHC/L/MSC/521/2025), accusing the apex bank of failing to disclose how much has been directly disbursed to the country’s 774 local government areas as mandated by a Supreme Court ruling.

The legal action stems from the July 2024 Supreme Court judgment, which removed state governors’ control over local government funds and ordered the CBN to make direct disbursements to elected local councils from the Federation Account.

In its suit, SERAP is seeking a court order to compel the CBN to provide detailed records of all disbursements to each local government, particularly in Rivers State, and to justify any such transactions. The group insists that Nigerians have a right to know whether the apex bank is fully complying with the court’s directive.

“Citizens deserve to know whether the CBN is complying with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” SERAP said in a statement. “Secrecy around disbursements will erode public trust and undermine governance at the grassroots.”

The organization accused some state governors of defying the judgment by continuing to withhold funds from local governments, effectively crippling service delivery at the grassroots level. SERAP warned that the CBN must not be complicit in such violations that threaten the financial autonomy of the third tier of government.

“The CBN must ensure that the 774 councils receive their full allocations directly. Any deviation would violate the Supreme Court’s ruling and harm millions who rely on local services,” it stated.

Represented by legal counsel Kolawole Oluwadare and Oluwakemi Oni, SERAP argued that the Freedom of Information Act, the Nigerian Constitution, and international human rights obligations—including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights entitle citizens to demand transparency and accountability from public institutions.

The organization expressed concern that ongoing non-compliance with the ruling could have far-reaching consequences, especially as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections. It cited former President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2022 statement, where he alleged that some local government chairmen were forced to sign inflated receipts by state governors, facilitating large-scale fund diversions.

SERAP also referenced the Federation Account Allocation Committee’s (FAAC) March 2025 disbursement of N1.578 trillion to federal, state, and local governments, arguing that such significant allocations must be traceable down to the last local council.

The group called on the judiciary to compel the CBN to act in accordance with the law, warning that failure to do so would “signal a dangerous erosion of the rule of law and encourage continued abuse of public funds.”