Local Government — Cross River State

*18 local government areas, as listed in the First Schedule, Part I of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. The list is constitutional, not administrative: a state may create development areas, but only an alteration of the Constitution can create a local government that draws from the Federation Account. Section 162(5)–(8) routes each council's share through a State Joint Local Government Account controlled by the state government — the arrangement the Supreme Court ruled against in Attorney-General of the Federation v. Attorney-General of Abia State & 35 Ors (11 July 2024), holding that allocations must go directly to democratically elected councils.*

The 18 councils#

Abi
Akamkpa
Akpabuyo
Bakassi
Bekwarra
Biase
Boki
Calabar Municipal
Calabar South
Etung
Ikom
Obanliku
Obubra
Obudu
Odukpani
Ogoja
Yakuur
Yala

Notes on the roster#

Bakassi LGA survives on paper after the 2002 ICJ judgment and the 2006 Greentree Agreement ceded the peninsula to Cameroon — the LGA is now administered from a resettlement area on the Nigerian side. See Bakassi.

References

Sources#

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), First Schedule Part I
INEC local government delimitation register
Supreme Court of Nigeria, SC/CV/343/2024, judgment of 11 July 2024 (local government financial autonomy)