Nigeria is one of the few countries in Africa which adopted a federal system of government, envisaging autonomy for all tiers of government, including federal, state and local.
By structure, local governments are to be the closest to the people, providing basic services to the grassroots. But over the years, the local governments have become mere administrative organs rather than delivering dividends of democracy. Contrary to the federal system which Nigeria adopted, their operations are often determined and controlled by state governors, who not only have literally taken over management of their finances, but sadly handpick those to run their affairs, including inefficient caretaker committees in violation of the 1999 Constitution. State governments have also been accused of influencing outcomes of even elections conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECS).
Nigeria has a total of 774 local government areas, but most of these rural areas exist without basic social infrastructure such as accessible roads, water, electricity, hospitals, schools, among others, despite huge monthly allocations from the federations account.
Consequently, many Nigerians see a local government as a cesspool of corruption where funds meant for developmental projects are siphoned, and where ghost workers and abandoned projects thrive.
Jide Ojo, a public affairs analyst, shares similar views and emphasises a gross abuse of the local government system in Nigeria.
“Theoretically and constitutionally, there are supposed to be three tiers of government in the country. However, in practice, there seems to be only two functioning tiers at the federal and state levels. The 774 local government areas listed in the constitution and the local council development areas established by many state governments are comatose. They are virtually dysfunctional because of the stranglehold on them by the state governors,” Ojo told BusinessDay.
Section 7 (1) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution guarantees a system of local government by democratically elected local government councils.
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But Ojo is worried that, “many governors have been acting in breach of this provision by dissolving democratically elected councils and inaugurating their cronies as either sole administrators or caretaker committees in charge of the local councils.”
It is common knowledge that much of the local government allocations pass through the governors, and cater only for personnel and overhead with no attention on projects which ought to drive development at the grassroots and cut down wide spread hunger and poverty.
The Fourth Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution not only validates local governments’ autonomy but lists the main functions of a local government council to include: “(b) collection of rates, radio and television licences; (c) establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute or infirm; (d) licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheelbarrows and carts; (e) establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks and public conveniences; (f) construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a state.”
Others include: “(g) naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses; (h) provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal; (i) registration of all births, deaths and marriages; (j) assessment of privately-owned houses or tenements for the purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of a state; and (k) control and regulation of – (i) out-door advertising and hoarding, (ii) movement and keeping of pets of all description, (iii) shops and kiosks, (iv) restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to the public, (v) laundries, and (vi) licensing, regulation and control of the sale of liquor.”
“2 (a) the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education; (b) the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of materials (c) the provision and maintenance of health services.”
However, there are concerns about how most states have now usurped the powers, functions and roles of the local governments and now treat them as their appendages.
Displeased with the development, President Buhari, in 2019, moved to grant financial autonomy to the local governments through the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Consequently, NFIU on May 6, 2019 issued the ‘Guidelines to Reduce Vulnerabilities Created by Cash Withdrawals from Local Government Funds throughout Nigeria,’ which tried to stop governors from tampering with funds meant for local government areas. The guidelines were to take effect from June 1.
But the governors of the 36 States under the umbrella of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) challenged the NFIU in court and the matter has not been resolved despite the consequences.
Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior, is one of those governors who believe that the local governments in Nigeria under the 1999 Constitution are and should remain appendages of the state governments.
Aregbesola, a former governor of Osun State, is of the opinion that there cannot be autonomy for local governments because they are absolutely under the control and ambience of the states and that the only organ of the state empowered by the constitution to make laws for them is the state parliament.
“The presidential system, which Nigeria is operating, is too expensive for its economy to cope with, thereby advocating for a parliamentary system which is less expensive. Giving autonomy to local government simply amounts to disruption of the federal system of government,” he had said.
According to him, “The current system may have encouraged corruption, but the solution is not total removal of local government from its original body, which is the state. Local governments in Nigeria should be independent of state governments as totally strange and anti-federalism.
For him, “There are only two tiers of government in a federal system of government, namely the federal government and the government at the federating level.”
But Patience Olaloye, head of information unit, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), sharply disagrees with Aregbesola’s position.
“The local government councils are not supposed and as a matter of fact is not an appendage of any state government as they are constitutionally recognized as the third tier of government.
“They have their unique roles spelt out in the fourth schedule of the constitution as a government responsible for the administration of the local areas and catering for the grassroots in terms of infrastructural development to the people such as rural roads, electricity, water, education among other amenities. The grassroots feel their impact more than any other government in the sense that they are readily available to serve the local people.”
She further opined that the constitution has conferred recognition to local government and scrapping it means scrapping the existence of the rural areas.
Her words: “As you are aware, a larger part of the nation’s population reside in the rural areas and these Nigerians need a government closer to them, who understands their way of life and who they can relate with and who can relate with them at their level.
“The constitution has conferred recognition to this tier of government. Scrapping it means scrapping the existence of the rural areas.”
“Every Nigerian is from a local government and the constitution is clear that each of them should be autonomous. It should therefore be allowed to remain as clearly enshrined in the constitution so they can effectively play this important roles of administering the grassroots where majority of Nigerians reside.”
Uche Uwaleke, a lecturer at the Nasarawa State University, is of the opinion that local governments remain a critical block in socio-economic development being closest to the grassroots and should not be scrapped.
In a chat with BusinessDay, he noted: “Local governments in Nigeria, as currently operated, have been rendered ineffective and irrelevant as most of them engage in no developmental projects beyond the payment of largely unproductive civil servants’ salaries. Consequently, most people at the grassroots hardly feel their impact.”
“Local governments are meant to take care of rural roads for evacuation of agriculture products as well as clean water sources such as boreholes in our rural communities. They are also expected to assist with the provision of basic health care and education, including recreation centres. But all they do is pay salaries from FAAC allocation since most of them report insignificant levels of Internally Generated Funds and so are constrained from embarking on any capital projects.”
Uwaleke called this an unfortunate situation, largely caused by undue interference by state governors most of whom control the FAAC allocation meant for local governments and only release to the local government chairmen, mostly their cronies, just enough money for the payment of salaries. He said this is why the third-tier of government in Nigeria is always grappling with the problem of ghost workers.
He further emphasised that local governments are closest to the grassroots and should not be scrapped.
For him, “if any tier of government in Nigeria should be eliminated, it should, in my opinion, be state governments. Having only the federal and local governments will enhance development in Nigeria because it will cut out the very costly political structures at the state level such that monthly allocations get to local governments directly.”
He also thinks that local governments will function better if truly allowed to be autonomous as provided in the 1999 Constitution.
Ben Adoga, an Abuja based journalist and public affairs analyst, also believes that the importance of local government administration cannot be underestimated because they provide community hospitals, converts, access roads for rural farmers etc.
He argued that “you cannot talk of scrapping local government; you can only talk of improving and strengthening it via constitutional means.”
The former President of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Ekiti, Bunmi Ajimoko, said local governments will continue to be relevant in Nigeria and should not be scrapped.
He said, “Local governments are very relevant in Nigeria. Majority of the people still live at the grassroots despite the migration to the urban centres. The truth is that a lot of people still rely on local authorities for the things they do. As long as Nigeria is structured like this they will still be relevant.”
He, however, agreed that the local governments are being run like appendages by governors.
“I have always believed that the way things are now and have been for some time, most states actually have local government as appendages. I say this because most local governments cannot function independently unless there is a review of the constitution where local governments would have autonomy.
He recalled that the National Assembly has twice amended the constitution to favour local government autonomy, but has been difficult to get a backing by the 36 State Houses of Assembly.
“As long as Nigeria is like this, our autonomy will continue to be a mirage. That’s the reality on ground.”
Ajimoko believes the country would be better for it, if the local governments get their autonomy as obtainable in developed countries.
He said, “If we looked at most developed countries, government is getting more decentralised and that is when the people at that level can feel the impact of the government.
“There is the need for local government to be the most important unit of governance in this country. That is the only way we will get it right.
“If a local government has a semblance of autonomy, I’m sure the people at grassroots will guide it jealously. And unless we go back to the basics to strengthen local government, we will not get it right.”
