“In the Foreword to the Guidelines for Local Government Reforms of 1976, the following were highlighted as recurring problems plaguing local government system since independence, for which the reforms were to serve as a panacea:
‘(i) Continuous whittling down of their powers by the State Governments.
(ii) Continued encroachment on what normally would have been exclusive powers of local government.
(iii) Lack of adequate finance.
(iv) Inadequate staffing.
(v) Excessive politicking.
(vi) There was a divorce between the people and the government at the basic level.’
In the same official document by the Federal Military Government, local government in Nigeria was defined as:
‘Government at the local level exercised through representative council established by law to exercise specific powers within defined areas.’
‘These powers should give the council substantial control over local affairs as well as the staff and institutional and financial powers to initiate and direct the provision of services and to determine and implement projects so as to complement the activities of the State and Federal Governments in their areas.’
Advertisement
‘The Guidelines, however, described a local council as a body created by and derived its powers from State Governments and they spring from the local communities of which they should be representative.’
With the 1976 Reforms, ‘The Federal Military Government has… decided to recognise Local Government as the third tier form of governmental activity in the nation… Local Government should do precisely what the word ‘government’ implies, i.e., governing at the grassroots.’
It is lamentable and a sad commentary that nearly five decades after the ground-breaking Local Government Reforms, the very afflictions the reforms were meant to cure are very much with us – in spite of 25 years of unbroken democratic rule!
Given the relevant provisions of the 1979 Constitution, which reflected the milestone 1976 Local Government Reforms as well as the subsequent 1999 Constitution, the (degree of financial) autonomy, especially with regards to the ability of a local council to execute projects and function as a tier of government, envisaged by the reforms, could hardly be achieved.
We recall that before the advent of military rule, different systems of local council administration were in force across the country, all subject to the vagaries of the political party in power. There was multi-tier system of local government in the East and the West while the Native Authority system remained largely unchanged in the North. The incursion of the military into governance saw the dissolution of the largely politicised local councils and their replacement with management committees, especially in the East and the West. The Native Authority system in the North largely remained although some of its functions were taken over by the regional/ state military governments.
Although there were widespread consultations across the country as a prelude to the famous 1976 Local Government Reforms, it may be argued that the central command nature of military administration played a role in the direct or indirect involvement of the Federal Government in the constitutional administration of local government in the country.
Nigeria, being a federation, the constitutional division of powers should have been limited to the central and component states. Local council administration should have been the exclusive preserve of state governments rather than its consequential recognition in the constitution of the country. For instance, it is difficult, if not practically impossible for a state government to create a local council that can receive a statutory monthly allocation from the Federation Account in order to meet the needs of its people.
Section 7(6)(a)(b) of the 1979 and 1999 Constitutions respectively provide that:
‘(6) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution – (a) the National Assembly shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils in the Federation; and (b) the House of Assembly of a State shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils within the State.’
Section 8 (5) and (6) of the 1999 Constitution provide that:
‘(5) An Act of the National Assembly passed in accordance with this section shall make consequential provisions with respect to the names and headquarters of State or Local government areas as provided in section 3 of this Constitution and in Parts I and II of the First Schedule to this Constitution.
(6) For the purpose of enabling the National Assembly to exercise the powers conferred upon it by subsection (5) of this section, each House of Assembly shall, after the creation of more local government areas pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, make adequate returns to each House of the National Assembly.’
