*6 Area Councils, 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 6 Area Councils#
- Abaji
- Abuja Municipal (AMAC)
- Bwari
- Gwagwalada
- Kuje
- Kwali
Notes on the roster#
Six Area Councils, not LGAs — the FCT has no state government, so the Councils are the only elected tier in the Territory and the Minister of the FCT exercises the powers a governor would hold elsewhere. FCT residents vote for a President, one Senator, two House members and their Council chairmen — and for nobody else.
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)