Local government autonomy in Nigeria: a discourse on the constraints to its realization and the implications for national development

Local Government was first and formally recognized as the third tier of government in Nigeria through the 1976 Guidelines for Local Government Reforms. The third tier status and existence of local government was further recognized and guaranteed in both the 1979, 1989 and 1999 constitutions. As a distinct tier of government, local governments are envisaged to have political/administrative and financial autonomy to enable them operate effectively as would be manifested in the substantial performance of the developmental functions that necessitated their creation. As such, the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in section 7 and section 162 provided for the political/administrative and financial autonomy of the local government respectively. Unfortunately, there are prevailing observations, by researchers and practitioners alike, that the local government autonomy is being substantial interfered in by the state governments. It is in the circumstance of this that the study examined the letters and spirit of the relevant and specific aspects of the 1999 constitution that are supposed to guarantee the local government autonomy, discussed the various patterns of interference in the autonomy particularly by the state governments and ex-rayed the extents to which the interference militates against the service delivery capacities of the local governments and their ultimate role of contributing to national development. Further, the study made recommendations towards enhancing and guaranteeing the local government autonomy in other to reposition them for more effective performance of their developmental roles. The basic recommendations made bordered on constitutional reforms that would expunge the provision of the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) from the constitution, provide for a specific tenure of the local government councils and outright prohibition of the adoption of the Care-taker Committee system or any other arrangement as an alternative framework to a democratically elected council for administering the local governments. In carrying out the study, data and information were collected mainly through secondary sources like government publications, journals and textbooks. Consequently content analysis technique was adopted in the analysis and conclusion.