“At its plenary on Wednesday, 15 May, 2024, the Senate implored the Tinubu-led Federal Government to revive the ‘dead’ local government administration in Nigeria. It urged the President to halt the allocation of funds to caretaker committee-led Local Government Areas and convene a national dialogue involving governors, state legislators, local government officials, civil society organizations and community leaders to discuss full autonomy of local government administration.
The upper chamber, consisting of a number of former governors, indicted state governments for misappropriating statutory funds of local councils.
According to Senator Suleiman Kawu, who tabled the motion entitled, ‘Urgent call on the President to resuscitate local government system in Nigeria,’ ‘Successive governments often eroded local autonomy, limiting their financial resources and control over decision-making. Corruption scandals and mismanagement tarnished the image of some local governments, fuelling public cynicism… The challenges we face – persistent security threats, rural-urban migration, decaying infrastructure and widespread unemployment – demand bold action. And we believe that empowering local governments holds the key to unlocking a brighter future for all Nigerians… Tinubu should also champion changes to the constitution that enshrine and guarantee genuine independence for local governments, granting them control over their resources, decision-making authority, and the power to chart their development path.’
The ‘functions of a local government council’ are provided in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended):
‘1. The main functions of a local government council are as follows –
(a) the consideration and the making of recommendations to a State commission on economic planning or any similar body on – (i) the economic development of the State, particularly in so far as the areas of authority of the council and of the State are affected, and (ii) proposals made by the said commission or body;
(b) collection of rates, radio and television licences;
(c) establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute or infirm;
(d) licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheel barrows and carts;
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(e) establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks and public conveniences;
(f) construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a State;
(g) naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses;
(h) provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal;
(i) registration of all births, deaths and marriages;
j) assessment of privately owned houses or tenements for the purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of a State; and
(k) control and regulation of – (i) out-door advertising and hoarding, (ii) movement and keeping of pets of all description, (iii) shops and kiosks, (iv) restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to the public, (v) laundries, and (vi) licensing, regulation and control of the sale of liquor.
‘2. The functions of a local government council shall include participation of such council in the Government of a State as respects the following matters – (a) the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education; (b) the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of materials; (c) the provision and maintenance of health services; and (d) such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the State.’
A thorough appraisal of the highlighted constitutional responsibilities vis-à-vis the performance of the 774 local councils leads us to an inescapable conclusion that local government administration, just as the Senate observed, is ‘dead’ in Nigeria.
Whereas Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution provides that ‘(1) The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed,’ our experience, however, is that most of the local councils are led by caretaker committees. Even where elections are conducted, there are usually manipulated by the state government in order to ensure the party in power wins all the seats. Local councils, as of today, are no more than outposts of the political party in power at the state level. The chairman and councillors are mere stooges of the state governor. Economically, local governments have become cost centres. Apart from payment of salaries, no other significant or development function is performed by the local administration, as its functions, including revenue sources, have been usurped by the state government.
