A conversation on local government autonomy

 ‘A conversation on local government autonomy,’ a lecture by Rt Hon Onofiok Luke, interrogates the unresolved issues impeding the smooth implementation of  Supreme Court decision on financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria (Part 1)

I will not want to belabour myself with defining what a Local Government means because I will assume that all of us have a fair knowledge of that concept. But then, I will set out this conversation by laying certain premises. First, as Aso (2024) has observed, there is the contention that no political system can effectively exercise governance successfully from the centre without distributing powers and responsibilities through decentralization to subordinate levels of government at the grassroots level. The scholar, Aso, therefore describes Local Government as the administrative unit governing a specific area. A Local Government operates at the grassroots level, directly engaging with the local population.

The primary role of local government

The primary role of local government is to manage and administer public services and amenities within its jurisdiction and ensure that the community’s unique needs are met through localised decision-making. Local governments exist to promote democratic participation, drive economic development at the grassroots level, and serve as the essential link between the central government and the local population. Many scholars like Aso(2024),  agree that Local Governments are  in theory and practice a political entity set up by a national or regional (state) government. It entails the division of the country into smaller units, which act as subordinate authorities to provide governance at the grassroots level through their elected representatives.

According to Olowu (2024), local government administration is essential for promoting democratic participation, accountability, and responsiveness to local needs. It provides an opportunity for citizens to engage in the decision-making process and to hold their elected representatives accountable for their actions. Local government plays a critical role in the provision of public services such as education, healthcare, sanitation, and infrastructure development. Ahmed (2024), in joining the conversation, opines that effective local government could lead to improved service delivery, increased efficiency, and better outcomes for citizens. Moreover, local government can also promote economic development by creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and by providing support for local entrepreneurs and small-scale enterprises.

Defining autonomy

Nwabueze (1983) as cited in Adeyemo (2005) elevates the conversation by defining autonomy under a federal system to mean an arrangement where each government enjoys a separate existence and independence from the control of other governments. Autonomy in this definition derives from the intergovernmental relations perspective in a Federation where each tier of government is expected to exist and operate within its own sphere without interference.

Anayochukwu and Ani (2021) define autonomy within the concept of local government administration as the elbowroom and freedom of the local government to make decisions within the powers and functions assigned to it by the laws within its sphere of influence. This implies a free hand available for local government to exercise in controlling its own affairs within the purview of the law without interference. Autonomy is that internal power available for local government to drive its own affairs unhindered as prescribed by the law(s).

Tracing the origin of local governments

Scholars in the field of Local Government administration like Anayochukwu, Ani and Nsah (2022) recall that prior to the reforms of Federal Structure of 1976 which placed a stamp on legitimacy on Local Governments as the third tier of government, local authorities, nay governments  were by and large creations of the regional and later  state  governments.  The local authorities or governments, therefore, performed functions delegated to them by the regional or state governments. Consequently, their level of autonomy differed in both extent and form across states. As entities born out  of the state governments, they were closely subordinate to the latter, and critics often describe them as tethered to the “apron strings” of the state governments. In essence, they functioned as extensions of the state apparatus. As such, the federal structure of Nigeria during this period effectively operated as a two-tier system.

Doho, Ahmed and Umar (2018) further the conversation by recalling that  from the blinders of the NULGE, (2003), “the aim of the reform was to institute an enduring local government council system; the creation of a system that could serve as a catalyst for the development of the areas involved; a uniform structure through the one tier system; recognizing the position of traditional rulers and a need to guide against the situation where the state governments have continue to encroach upon what would normally have been the exclusive preserves of local governments”

A conversation about the Dasuki Committee

However, the failure of the 1976 reforms to produce the desired goal, led to the constitution of the Dasuki Committee  in 1984. In its reports, the Dasuki committee largely amplified the need to strengthen the autonomy of local government system.

The major recommendations of the Dasuki-led Committee  are:

1. The scrapping of State Ministries for Local Government and all responsibilities of the ministry was transferred to unit under the Deputy Governors office.
2. Direct disbursement of statutory allocation
3. Creation of additional local governments
4. Review of allocation formula
5. Transfer of Primary Health care program to local governments
6. Transfer of Primary Education to local governments
7. Separation of power at the local government with the introduction of the legislative and executive arms of government to the local government system in Nigeria.
8. The appointment of political secretaries at the local government
9. The institution of 774 local governments in the constitution.

As Ekanem & Akpan (2013) have noted, the Babangida reforms that freed the local government financially from the interferences of state governments was only possible because the military administrators that oversee the administration at the state level could not defy the commander-in-chief and Head of State that appointed them in the first place; a strong attribute of the military command structure. Unfortunately, rather than build on the gains of the administration, successive administrations after the Babangida regime further emasculated both the administrative and financial autonomies of the local government.

The EtsuNupe Committee recognised local government as autonomous

This persistent challenge prompted the constitution of the EtsuNupe Committee in 2003, which ultimately led to the recognition of local government as the autonomous third tier of Nigeria’s government. The committee’s recommendations led to the abolition of the state-local government joint account and the direct allocation of each local government’s share of the federation account.

Over the past decades, local governments have been almost crippled in most states, where the governors seize their federal allocation and only release funds to them on piecemeal, a practice which barely keeps them going (Agbo, 2024). As a result of this, former President MuhammaduBuhari  in  one  of  the  interviews  with  Arise  Television  during  his  tenure  expressed  his indignation about the state of local government system in the country, where he narrowed down the question about restructuring to the treatment of thelocal government.

To that effect, the then President in  May  2020  signed  Executive  Order  10  granting  financial  autonomy  to  local governments in Nigeria, together with state judiciary and House of Assembly. Interestingly, the particular Executive Order faced strong resistance as it fell apart due to the governors’ objection to it (Wale, 2022). Thus, the Supreme Court nullified the Executive Order 10 by declaring that the then Nigerian President overstepped his powers by promulgating such a rule (Ameh, 2022).

Bringing the Supreme Court into the conversation

However, on July 11th, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Nigeria being an Apex court of the country  in  a  suit  brought  by  the  Federal  Government  of  Nigeria  through  its  unanimous judgment affirmed the financial autonomy of the Nigeria’s 774 local government to strengthen their independence in the country. In addition, the Supreme Court made some other far-reaching decisions to reposition local government administration in the country. They are:

• The declaration of the appointment of caretaker committees to replace elected local government executives as unconstitutional;
• Ensuring democratic governance at the local government level in the 36 states of the federation;
• Monthly disbursement of federal allocations to the local governments directly to them by the federation account, and
• The restraining the  state  governors  from  collecting  funds  belonging  to  the  local government councils when no democratically elected local government councils are in place.

Although the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) in section 7(1) and section 162 (paragraphs, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) guaranteed some form of autonomy to local government, and these provisions are essentially aimed at protecting the local government from unnecessary interference from other tiers of government and to enable it play significant roles in the national development process.  Unfortunately,  findings  from  research  by  different scholars  (such  as  Awotokun,  2005  and  Adeyemi,  2013))  as  well  as  present day realities in the Nigerian Political ecosystem point to the fact that the autonomy of the local government is more of a mirage and that has become increasingly difficult to realize following the rate of interference by state governments both in the political, administrative and financial affairs of the local government.

• The conversation continues…