*25 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 25 councils#
- Aniocha North
- Aniocha South
- Bomadi
- Burutu
- Ethiope East
- Ethiope West
- Ika North East
- Ika South
- Isoko North
- Isoko South
- Ndokwa East
- Ndokwa West
- Okpe
- Oshimili North
- Oshimili South
- Patani
- Sapele
- Udu
- Ughelli North
- Ughelli South
- Ukwuani
- Uvwie
- Warri North
- Warri South
- Warri South West
Notes on the roster#
The three Warri LGAs are the administrative fault line of the Itsekiri–Ijaw–Urhobo conflict: the 1997 relocation of the Warri South West headquarters from Ogbe-Ijoh to Ogidigben triggered the Warri crisis that ran to 2003.
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)