Jide Ojo
Nigeria officially has a three-tier governance system. However, this seems to exist only on paper. In reality, Nigeria operates a de facto two-level administrative system—that is, Federal and State. The tripod is standing on two legs. Sad. Heartrending!
I attended Ibadan Municipal Government Primary School, Mokola, Ibadan, for my Primary 4 to 6 between 1978 and 1980. I am not sure if the school still exists.
While Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) says the Local Government system should not be undemocratically governed, state governors have their own set of rules. They routinely dissolve or refuse to constitute the State Independent Electoral Commissions, which are established by Section 197 of the Constitution as one of the three state executive bodies. Governors prefer to appoint sole administrators or caretaker committees—which are unknown to our laws—to administer the 768 Local Government Areas and the six Area Councils of the FCT.
When the Supreme Court, at the behest of the Federal Government of Nigeria via a suit brought by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, ruled on July 11, 2024, that funds meant for LGs should be sent to them directly rather than via the much-abused State Joint Local Government Account recommended by Section 162(6) of the Constitution—and that all LGAs should be democratically governed via elected chairmen and councillors—the governors decided to hurriedly conduct ‘kangaroo’ local government elections where the ruling party at the state level wins most, if not all, of the available seats. In the just-conducted Lagos State local government polls held last Saturday, July 12, 2025, the ruling APC won all the 57 chairmanship positions and all but one of the councillorship seats. This is the trend across the country.
This newspaper (The PUNCH), in its July 11, 2025 edition (online), reported thus: “An analysis by The PUNCH shows that state governors retained control of council allocations totalling N4.5tn, defying the landmark judgment that mandated direct funding to local governments. On July 11, 2024, the apex court ruled that local governments must receive their allocations directly from the Federation Account, describing the long-standing practice of routing the funds through state governments as unconstitutional. In response, the Federal Government constituted an inter-agency panel to oversee the implementation of the ruling and directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to open individual accounts for each of the 774 local government councils across the country to facilitate direct disbursements. However, one year after the judgment, findings by The PUNCH show that the process remains largely unimplemented.”
It continued: “Local government allocations have continued to pass through state governments amid delays and disputes between the Central Bank, state governments, local government authorities, and other relevant agencies. An analysis of data from the Federation Account Allocation Committee reveals that between July 2024 and June 2025, the sum of N4.496tn was disbursed to local government councils. This represents 24.87 per cent of the N18.074tn shared among the three tiers of government over the 12-month period.”
The governors have fought tooth and nail to avert local government autonomy, as they see the tier of government as their appendage. They create Local Council Development Areas without the consequential approval of the National Assembly. I learnt that part of the requirements the Central Bank of Nigeria gave the LGAs before they could open the account with the apex bank is a two-year audited report, which many of the LGAs could not submit because, truly speaking, the money was largely spent on their behalf by the State Government. They only get salary and little money for logistics to run their offices. So, how can they manufacture an audited report without indicting themselves?
It is regrettable that what the Federal Government does not do to the State Governments is being done by the state governments to the LGAs. Take, for instance, the strong-arm tactics Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State used against the LGAs in the state. This was done in cahoots with the State House of Assembly. A similar thing was done by Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State against one of the council chairmen who claimed that LGAs in the state were not receiving the allocation due to them. He was suspended and accused of corruption.
Part of the challenges Nigeria’s local government system faces include undue meddlesomeness and the state government’s stranglehold on the operations of the councils. The State Government does not only manage the resources on behalf of the councils; key personnel are also posted to the councils by the State Government. They include the Secretary to the Council. In fact, the Local Government Service Commission—which is under the state government—recruits staff for the councils.
For states that have gone ahead to establish LCDAs, rather than the State Government taking full charge of their funding, what we learnt is that when the monies for the constitutionally recognized councils come into the State Joint Local Government Account, they are redistributed to service the LCDAs. Meanwhile, the whole essence of the Joint Account was to allow for the State Government to add its own funds to that of the Federal Government in order to fund the LGAs.
Another serious challenge the LGAs face is the usurpation of their functions by the state governments in many states. The Fourth Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution has earmarked the functions of the LGAs to them, but the State Government and its agents have been encroaching on these functions by collecting taxes and levies due to LGAs, thereby starving them of internally generated revenue.
There is also a lot of opacity and lack of accountability in LG administration. The little IGR collected is largely mismanaged or unaccounted for. This is why LGAs cannot pay their staff or run efficiently Primary Health Centres, Primary Schools, and maintain Trunk C roads under their purview. The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees—better known as NULGE—Abuja branch just called off a three-month-old strike embarked upon due to the inability of the Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory to pay the N70,000 minimum wage.
Like I said while analysing the just-concluded Lagos State Council Elections of last Saturday on TVC News, there is low voter turnout because people have not seen any salutary effect of having that tier of governance system on their lives. Community roads are impassable, PHCs are mere consulting clinics without doctors and healthcare personnel, primary school teachers are owed salaries, and security at the grassroots is appalling.
For there to be redemption of the local councils in Nigeria, there must be financial and administrative autonomy for the councils. Good enough, the National Assembly is at present embarking on another alteration of the Constitution—hope this gets done this time around. The State Independent Electoral Commission also needs to enjoy a similar fate. They need financial and administrative independence.
Pending when these amendments become a reality, there is a need for immediate compliance with the Supreme Court decision of July 11, 2024. People in the communities must also oversight the chairmen and councillors in their LGAs, LCDAs, and Area Councils. We must demand transparency and accountability from these elected representatives.
X: @jideojong