LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to critically examine the issues and challenges of local government autonomy in Nigeria. The local government, as the third tier of government in Nigeria, was created to bring the government closer to the people at the grassroots. Despite the local government reforms of 1976, the public believes that the local governments have not met their expectations. Many reasons have been adduced for local governments’ non-performance. Many point to the fact that the undue interference of the State governments in managing their finances and ensuring that their stooges are elected or appointed as local government chairmen accounts for the non-performance by most local governments in Nigeria. The 1999 constitution (as amended) is ambiguous because in one breath autonomy is given to the local governments and in another breath the local government council is subjected to the control of the states and the Federal government. However, the issue of the ambiguity was addressed on the 11th of July 2024 when the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of local governments and that State Governors do not have the power to dissolve elected local government councils. This study adopted a theoretical method based on existing knowledge and recent developments. The findings of the study revealed the non-implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgment over a year after the judgment. This is a grave indictment of the executive and the legislative arms of government for keeping silent when the State Governors are not obeying the ruling of the apex Court in Nigeria. This is a great threat to democracy and the rule of law in Nigeria. It is therefore allocations to States that have failed to implement the Supreme Court ruling. There is also an urgent need for the National Assembly to amend the constitution to reflect local government autonomy