President Bola Tinubu is a development-minded politician and prioritises development that touches the needs of the people. It is therefore not surprising that he has been campaigning that other tiers of government should complement his efforts in touching the lives of the people especially as allocations have increased significantly.

No wonder he has been constantly reminding governors and local government chairman who are getting their direct funding to check what was more needed in their domains and address same since the resources to do so are no longer in question.

This for example is the Fifth Time Tinubu Is Telling Governors to Improve the Quality of Life of Their People. He once again called on state governors to step up and directly improve the quality of life for their people. This marks the fifth time the President is emphasizing a fundamental truth: central government efforts alone cannot transform a nation if sub-national leaders remain passive.

Starting with the latest one on July 30th, 2026, while hosting the Olubadan and his traditional council at the Villa, President Tinubu said: “The money going to the states today is four to five times what they used to receive. Nobody is borrowing to pay salaries anymore, and pensioners are receiving their entitlements… Instead of building flyovers where there is no significant traffic, build roads and arterial networks that improve access, enhance the quality of life, and enable security agencies to reach vulnerable communities quickly.”

The second instance was on March 13th, 2026, when he hosted media executives and proprietors at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, expressing that: “We’ve opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money. But how they use it is in your hands, so don’t bombard me alone. Look at local governments too, and equally, the sub-national.”

On December 18th, 2025, during the 14th APC National Caucus meeting, Tinubu said: “To me, the local government autonomy, it is and must be effective. Let us give them… There is no autonomy without funded mandate, we’ll give them their money directly. That’s the truth. That’s compliance of the Supreme Court. Take leadership seriously.”

The fourth was on December 19th, 2025, during the 15th APC NEC meeting, when he said: “The Supreme Court has capped it for you again, saying, ‘give them their money directly.’ If you wait for my Executive Order, because I have the knife, I have the yam, I will cut it. I’m just being very respectful and understanding with my governors. Otherwise, if you don’t start to implement it, fact after fact, you will see.”

And the fifth was when he said “Dear Brothers and Sisters, Yes I am in charge here today, but you are running a Constitutional Democracy. I will appeal to you to summon the Governors! Call them up. I am doing my best to improve the revenue of the country and giving them their dues, but they must equally be sympathetic to the populace and they must consider the needs of the local people.” During the official meeting with the leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)

The wisdom of the Yoruba proverb, “Ọwọ́ kan kò gbé ẹ̀rù de órí” (One hand cannot lift a heavy load onto the head), captures the core of Nigeria’s federal structure. Governance across a nation of over two hundred million people is a massive responsibility that no single executive at the center can carry alone.

The President envisions a clear division of labour across all tiers of government. While the central administration focuses on national infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, defense, and strategic federal projects, state and local governments are expected to match that effort. Their role is to drive grassroots development by building local roads, supporting agriculture, strengthening primary healthcare, and providing qualitative education.

The humongous increase in revenue allocations to states following key fiscal reforms is not an accidental windfall. Today, state governments are no longer owing salaries, and major powers like electricity generation and distribution have been successfully decentralized to the state level. Massive funds are being pumped directly into the hands of these state “money bags” (governors), making this a deliberate, measured strategy to place real resources where citizens actually live. With states receiving unprecedented funding, the President expects these resources to translate into measurable productivity rather than administrative waste.

For federalism to deliver meaningful progress, autonomy must exist in practice, not just on paper. Historically, local governments the closest tier of government to the grassroots—were functionally paralyzed. They were trapped under state-level control through Joint State-Local Government Accounts and managed by temporary caretaker committees.

President Tinubu took decisive action to dismantle this long-standing bottleneck. On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment granting full financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government councils. The court ordered the Federal Government to pay allocations directly into exclusive local government accounts and ruled that only democratically elected local administrations could receive these funds, effectively ending the era of state-appointed caretaker committees.

To reinforce this mandate, President Tinubu left no room for doubt during a recent APC National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja, issuing a stern warning to governors attempting to delay or bypass compliance: “If you wait for my Executive Order, because I have the knife, I have the yam, I will cut it. Before FAAC, we’ll do the arithmetic, we know the percentage, and send it direct to their accounts.” By invoking the proverbial knife and yam, the President signaled that the federal government holds the authority and the allocation mechanism to bypass uncooperative state executives entirely, ensuring funds reach the grassroots directly.

I wrote in my article titled “President Tinubu’s Heart Panting for Leaders of Likeminds” that this financial empowerment requires a corresponding shift in leadership character. Without leaders who share the President’s passion and accountability, increased funding only leads to increased waste. While the federal government pushes the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto-Badagry road, and the Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna Gas project, NELFUND, TVET and all other federal initiative we need state and local level leaders who think with the same scale and precision. A corresponding project or initiative must also be going on in other tiers of the state.

With federal allocations reaching historical highs, power generation and distribution decentralized, and local governments legally and financially shielded and from state interference, the long-standing excuse of central neglect is completely dead. If irregularities remain within the states, the governors must be held fully responsible.

However, President Tinubu’s enforcement of local government autonomy is only half the battle; the rest falls on the public. Citizens have a vital, aggressive role to play in enforcing this accountability. People must stop relying solely on the promises of state governors and instead turn their focus directly onto their local government chairmen. If local leaders fail to deliver or refuse to comply with their constitutional duties, citizens must take direct action sleeping on their doorsteps and blocking their driveways until they account for every kobo. The President has handed the people the legal power and the resources; it is now entirely up to the citizens and sub-national leaders to enforce true progress at the grassroots.

Bamidele Atoyebi is the Convener of BAT Ideological Group, National Coordinator of Accountability and Policy Monitoring and a publisher at Unfiltered and Mining Reporting and political social worker