ESSENCE: Interdisciplinary- International Journal of Concerned African Philosophers

This paper which relies heavily on documentary source to generate secondary data was put forth to examine Local Government Autonomy in Nigeria: Challenges and issues. It is a known fact that the adoption of a federal arrangement in Nigeria presupposes that there is division of powers among levels of government with a written constitution showing the division, and the coordinate relationships between the levels with regard to their respective functions. This means that each level of government can decide and act on issues within its defined jurisdiction, irrespective of whether or not other levels are disposed towards such decisions and/or actions. Local Government was first and formally recognized as the third tier of government in Nigeria through the 1976 Guidelines for Local Government Reforms as further guaranteed in the 1979, 1989 and 1999 constitutions. As a distinct tier of government, local governments are envisaged to have political/administrative and financial autonomy to enable them operate effectively as would be manifested in the substantial performance of the developmental functions that necessitated their creation. However, it does appear that the various reforms and the practice of local governments in Nigeria over the years have tended to remove much of the autonomy granted this level of government. In other words, there are prevailing observations, by researchers and practitioners alike, that the local government autonomy is being substantially interfered by the other levels of governments. This appears to contradict the concept of coordinate relationship as it was discovered that constraints on the autonomy of Local governments have had serious implications for the level of government in the area of decision making. It equally revealed that the practice of local government in the Nigeria shows a departure from the position of the prebendal theory possibly because of the prolonged military rule and undemocratic attitude of the state.

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