THE LEGISLATURE AND REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM OF NIGERIA'S FOURTH REPUBLIC

The desire for local democracy informed the series of reforms in the local government system of Nigeria’s plural society. This is in recognition that democracy and sustainable development is rooted in functioning local institutions that engage people in their own governance and are nearest the community and hence, knows their human and natural resources. Despite these reforms, Nigeria’s local government system is yet to realize these objectives. This paper critically reviews the operation of Nigeria’s local government system and unveils the near absence of the legislative organ which is the vehicle of social engineering and democratic consolidation. It argues that the legislature is indispensable to local governance and its effectiveness is central to local democracy through which sustainable development can be realized. This necessitates strengthening legislative capacity of the local government by addressing state government excessive control of local government councils in Nigeria. An institutional review of local government elections is therefore, imperative for local government autonomy in the country.