…Demands disclosure of FAAC allocations to two LGAs from May 2023 to May 2026
From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
A non-governmental organisation, Kwande Community Brotherhood Assembly (KCBA), has instituted a suit against the Benue State Government and 10 other federal and state government officials over alleged lack of transparency in the disbursement of Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds to the state, particularly Kwande and Ushongo Local Government Areas.
The suit, marked FHC/MKD/CS/117/26, was filed at the Federal High Court in Makurdi on August 13, 2026.
The organisation is seeking information on FAAC allocations received by Benue State and the amounts accruing specifically to Kwande and Ushongo LGAs between May 2023 and May 2026.
Those joined as respondents include the Attorney-General of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Accountant-General of the Federation, Governor of Benue State, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order of Benue State, Accountant-General of Benue State and Commissioner for Finance.
Others are the Permanent Secretary, covering the Special Adviser, Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Benue State, as well as the chairmen of Kwande and Ushongo Local Government Areas.
Addressing journalists in Makurdi on Wednesday, KCBA President, Joseph Nyitamen Asenge, said the organisation had filed an application for an Order of Mandamus, asking the court to compel the relevant government institutions to provide records of allocations received by the state and the two local government areas.
Asenge said the group was particularly interested in determining the amount of money allocated to Kwande and Ushongo during the period under review.
According to him, the funds are public resources meant to support the provision of basic infrastructure and services, including water, schools, healthcare facilities, roads and security.
He said the organisation had made several attempts to obtain the information through official channels, relying on Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution and the Freedom of Information Act 2011, but received no satisfactory response.
“Before instituting the suit, we wrote seven letters. Under the FOI Act, the offices were mandated to respond within seven days. Instead of answers, we got games,” Asenge said.
He alleged that some of the responses from government officials did not address the group’s requests.
“The Chairman of RMAFC told us to ‘go to the website and Google’. The Accountant-General of the State said, ‘I am not the one’, while the Permanent Secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs told us to ‘go and meet the Governor’,” he added.
Asenge stressed that the legal action was not intended to witch-hunt any individual or government institution, but to promote transparency, accountability and development in Kwande, Ushongo and the wider Benue State.
“This is not about politics. It is about transparency, accountability and the right of the people to know,” he said.
The KCBA president urged the court to compel the respondents to make relevant financial records available.
“We call on the court to compel all the respondents to individually open their books. The money belongs to the people. The records belong to the people, and the truth belongs to the people,” he said.
Asenge also called on Benue residents to take a greater interest in public finances and demand accountability from government institutions.
“We call on every son and daughter of Benue to wake up, stand up and demand to know their commonwealth,” he added.
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