Local Government Autonomy, Financial Control, and Challenges of Local Government Administrations in Nigeria: An Inventory

The study is an inventory and a narrative essay into local government administration in Nigeria albeit it’s contested autonomy. The 774 local government councils were envisaged to be the third tier of government and the closest to the grassroots. It is therefore assumed that developmental strides of the local government councils will impact more directly on the citizens faster, but over the years the state governors had exploited the constitutional lacuna which expressly provided for state controlled joint local government account, through which federal allocations to the local councils are received. This granted the state government unfettered access to these funds, and hampering the financial abilities of the local government administration to deliver dividends of democracy to the citizens. This study evaluated various financial reforms and financial control policies of government as it impacts on accountability in the handling of public treasury in Nigeria. The study examined financial controls as a theoretical undergirding and various enactments of government on financial management. The study is a narrative essay, delineating the historical evolution of Nigerian local government administration. The approach is in tandem with Creswell (2007) who held that narrative essay is a qualitative strategy which enable researchers to learn from participants view in a natural setting. The methodology of study is therefore qualitative, where the primary aim is to provide a complete, detailed description of the research topic, as opposed to quantitative research which focuses more in counting and classifying features and constructing statistical models and figures to explain what is observed. As Nigerians celebrate the recent Supreme Court pronouncement granting full financial autonomy to the local government, there is heightened apprehension that there will be misappropriation of the huge allocations coming to the local government. The study therefore reviewed the concept of accountability and financial control structure in place to checkmate any abuse of pecuniary responsibility.