FEDERALISM AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to ascertain if federalism guaranteed local government autonomy, and to find out if Nigeria's local government system enjoyed some level of autonomy for effective service delivery. The study found out that federalism as practiced in Nigeria did guarantee local government autonomy as Nigeria variant of democracy is strange and does not conform to the standards and tenets recommended by world respected scholars in the field of federalism. Local governments are infact appendages of the state governments as they are inextricably tied to the umbilical cord of their respective state governments through which they derive their financial and political nourishment to remain alive. The study recommended that more finds should be made available to local governments in the country to enable them carry out their functions effectively as well as abrogation of the state-local government’s joint account. It equally recommended that the state government should remit the mandatory 10% of their internally generated revenue as directed by the Nigerian constitution to local governments. The study concluded that local government autonomy in Nigeria is indeed not a reality and accounts for the poor state of local governments in the country.