One of the greatest deceptions that Nigerians have accepted is referred to as local government autonomy.
In theory, local governments represent a third tier of governance. However, they are completely controlled by state governors in practice. This critical issue should have sparked nationwide demonstrations against governors. Yet, Nigerians are currently directing their frustrations towards the president.
Local governments receive substantial allocations from the Federation Account each month. On average, many local governments obtain N200–N300 million monthly. Let’s use a conservative estimate of N250 million.
That results in N3 billion for each local government annually.
Most local governments are composed of 15 to 30 communities. Even with 20 communities, this equates to roughly N150 million per community each year.
With N150 million in a single year, a community has the potential to acquire the fundamental amenities necessary for significant growth and development.
Local governments have been acknowledged since the 1979 Constitution and again in the 1999 Constitution, yet for decades, this autonomy has existed solely on paper. Governors have managed local government funds through the State–Local Government Joint Account and governed LGs with caretaker committees.
The first substantial federal initiative to enforce financial autonomy occurred in 2020, but states largely ignored it. The most definitive legal enforcement arose in July 2024, when the Supreme Court mandated direct allocations to local governments and deemed caretaker committees illegal.
Now, when we consider just three to five years of true autonomy, that sums up to N450–N750 million per community.
However, as it stands in Nigeria today, communities still lack essential infrastructure. Villages remain in darkness. Young people are leaving. Businesses are closing down.
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So, where did the funds go? Posing that question unveils the cruelty of governors. They prefer to maintain control rather than allow development to reach rural areas.
Through the State–Local Government Joint Account, governors misappropriate local government funds, disband elected councils, appoint caretaker committees, and transform local governments into mere salary-dispensing branches of state governments.
And much of the Nigerian populace remains quiet.
Rather than seeking accountability from governors, people direct their resentment at Abuja.
If local governments truly had autonomy:
-Nobody would have to rely on governors to repair village roads.
-Nobody would appeal to governors for power transformers.
-Citizens would hold their local government chairpersons responsible.
The federal government has made attempts to enforce these laws.
There have been Supreme Court decisions declaring caretaker committees unlawful. Presidents have instructed direct allocations to local governments. Bills favoring local government autonomy have been passed in the National Assembly.
However, enforcement remains weak, and governors resist because the finances from local governments represent their most significant source of power.
If local government chairpersons had access to these funds, they would not be subservient to governors.
If Nigerians genuinely grasped this, protests would not be confined to Abuja but would occur in front of every Government House across Nigeria.
This is a calculated and cruel system designed by the governors to keep the grassroots impoverished. For them, everything is about politics, including the lives of the citizens.
