Freeing Local Governments From Shackles Of Governors

President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, recently disclosed plans by the Senate to take steps to ensure fiscal autonomy for the local governments and block the release of allocations from the federation account to local governments without elected leadership. This followed mounting concerns expressed by Nigerians over the increasing number of states running local governments without elected administrations and interfering with local government funds.
Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, makes it clear that local governments in Nigeria should be democratically elected. It states, “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed.” Therefore, unconstitutional for any local government to operate without an elected leadership.
But since 1999, when the current democratic dispensation was birthed, local governments, which form the third tier of administration in Nigeria, have been seized and incapacitated by state governors and state Houses of Assembly, which hide under the second segment of the same Section 7 (1) of the Constitution that vests on the state, the powers to make laws for the “establishment, structure, finance and function of such council.” Governors and their houses of Assembly have capitalised on this constitutional provision to seize the constitutional funds and powers of the local government, thereby weakening the structures of governance at that level, while attention to the grass roots people they should serve are grossly denied.
It has become normal for governors to suspend local government chairmen at will and dissolve local government councils using laws made by the state assemblies and appointing caretaker or transition committees or even leaving civil servants to run the councils in the place of elected councils.
Consequently, there has been a virtual erosion of democracy and governance at the local government level. Where elected councils exist, they have been reduced to merely paying salaries of local government workers and sharing monies to political leaderships in the council areas.
The states have also taken over major functions of the local governments like environmental sanitation, primary education, primary healthcare, chieftaincy and markets and are deducting allocations due to the local governments to fund these areas. This leaves the local government with very little to fund issues of governance and development in the local communities.
It is not surprising therefore that state governors have worked against direct disbursement of federally allocated funds to the local governments. They even frustrated the Executive Orders issued in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to the accountant general of the federation to pay local government allocations directly to them. With governors planting candidates in State Assemblies, it is no wonder the state legislators did not push the Buhari Local Government Autonomy order.
These days, apart from erecting new local government office blocks, renovating old blocks, sharing palliatives during emergencies and funding local security operatives, local governments hardly do anything more whereas, that is the level where the people ought to feel the impact of government.
This is why the promise by the Senate President to secure fiscal autonomy for local governments and block unelected leaderships at that tier of government from collecting allocations from the federation account is a welcome development.
The grassroots people have also not helped matters as they have been too distant from local government governance. Democracy is about participation; it behoves them to lend their voices to the ongoing debates and also mount pressure on both their representatives and governors to ensure the right things are done.
The current intervention of the Senate should not stop there. It should be followed up with further amendments to the Constitution to strengthen and restore full powers and functions to the local government.
As the closest level of government to the people, everything should be done to make the local governments functional so sustainable development can evolve. The advantages of truly autonomous and democratic local governments are many and varied. Apart from bringing development to the grassroots, they serve as grounds for grooming truly democratic and popular leaders.
Democratic local councils will encourage popular participation in government as the people can better relate with their councillors and council chairman on issues and projects dear to them. Popular participation in governance will check gross abuses by government officials and tone down the heavy dose of corruption that has now engulfed public offices in all spheres of the country.
Democratic and financially autonomous local governments will engender competitive development among local governments and catalyse rural and grassroots development.
When we get it right with the local governments, it will spiral up to the state and federal governments. So, when next the constitution comes up for amendment, Mr Senate President and the entire National Assembly should not miss it. They should strengthen the provisions that protect the financial autonomy and democratisation of the local government.