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There are growing concerns over the lack of transparency and weak accountability mechanism in the management of funds at the third tier of government, particularly in the wake of the recent Supreme Court judgement granting full financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas (LGAs) in July.
This is as BudgIT, a civic organisation revealed on Monday that between 2014 and June 2024, N17.5 trillion was allocated to LGAs, but remains unaccounted for.
Stakeholders in the public and civil space say without robust and clear mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability, financial autonomy could exacerbate corruption at the local level and undermine the objective of enabling local governments to address their unique challenges more effectively.
During a policy dialogue on “Enthroning accountability in local governance in Nigeria”, organised by Agora Policy and the McArthur Foundation, in Abuja, Ayomide Ladipo, head of Tracka at BudgIT, presented a report titled, “No more leisurely strolling: Nigerian local governments in focus.”
The report noted that the N17.5 trillion allocated to LGAs is nearly equivalent to the Federal Government’s revenue from 2015-2020, which was N17.9 trillion.
The report also shows that the 774 LGs scored 31.25 percent out of 100 percent based solely on their public website integrity and citizen engagement variables. However, when it comes to critical variables such as financials, procurement, and anti-corruption, they scored zero, indicating that there is a need for improvement in these areas.
In addition to fiscal transparency and accountability, Ladipo emphasised the importance of robust citizen participation, free, fair, and periodic elections for LG autonomy to work.
She emphasised that LGs must be seen providing quality service and infrastructure delivery, and urged a very robust capacity building for LG personnel on fiscal management, noting that several officials lack understanding of their functions and responsibilities.
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“While the Supreme Court judgment is a step in the right direction, it should not absorb LG of their responsibility” she stressed.
Waziri Adio, founder of Agora Policy, noted that public confidence in LGAs remains low. Citing a 2008 Afrobarometer survey, he pointed out that trust in local government administration had dropped from 58 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2008. Only 22 percent believed LGAs used resources for public services, and 20 percent said LGAs provided information on projects, expenditures, and revenue. About 89 percent of respondents believed all LGA officials were corrupt.
To address this problem, he said citizens should play a critical role. “So if we’re not interested, if we’re not involved, if we’re not asking questions, my understanding of basic economics is that what is not demanded cannot be supplied”, Adio explained.
“Getting our local government areas to work optimally is critical. The local government area is central to making Nigeria work optimally.
“I want to mention that accountability will be a critical touch point in reforming and remaking our local government areas”, he said.
Speaking during a panel session, Aminu Maifata, national president of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), said the association was putting together a financial framework that to help the local governments be more accountable.
“We know that with the financial autonomy is a lot of responsibilities and the eye is now on local government. We are sure and ready to provide a financial framework for the 774 local governments to work with. Just like it’s identified, we need to give them a template in terms of budgetary provisions and preparations.
“They need to have proper bookkeeping and accounting systems in place; an annual audit, a domestic report from time to time on an annual basis, and independent audit by financial institutions that have been set by government”, he added.
The president, who was represented by the acting director-general of ALGON, however, said the issue of accountability needed to be discussed further and seriously.
“Everybody has to participate to make sure that we demand for what is required, to get some of those mechanisms that will help have proper accountability and transparency in our units.
Maifata also stressed that for LG autonomy to work; implementation of the government’s policies should adopt a bottom-up approach.
Samson Itodo, executive director, Yaiga, said while credible elections were critical for functional LGs, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should not be allowed to conduct LG elections because they lack the operational capacity.
Itodo added that doing so could defeat the idea of local autonomy. He recommended that the State Electoral Commission (SEC) should be empowered to conduct the elections.
“INEC has repeatedly said it is over-burdened with a lot of responsibility. I don’t think INEC should Conduct LG Council elections due to operational capacity. It defeats the idea of local autonomy. We should strengthen SEC and they will even conduct better elections”, he said.
Remi Aiyede, a professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, also highlighted the need for federal and state governments to negotiate and reach a consensus, if the LG autonomy is to be effectively implemented.
“State governors are displeased with the way the government went about this. We need some kind of political negotiation, a mutual understanding that will provide a fertile ground for the Supreme Court judgment.
