By Samuel Ajayi | Last week’s policy conversation on “Enthroning Accountability in Local Governance in Nigeria” attracted a diverse audience of more than 200 participants and threw up numerous ideas on how to deepen accountability and good governance in Nigeria’s third tier of government.

The conversation was convened in response to the July 11^th ruling of the Supreme Court, which mandated direct financial allocations to the 774 local government areas (LGAs). Organised with the support of MacArthur Foundation, the event was put together by Agora Policy and five partners: BudgIt Foundation, Yiaga Africa, Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Premium Times and The Cable.

The panellists, the participants and others who gathered at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on August 5^th discussed ways of ensuring that financial autonomy for the LGAs achieves its intended purpose: more accountable and responsive governance and significant improvement in citizens’ welfare at the local level across the country. Below are five key submissions at the conversation:

Institutional Frameworks for Checks and Balances Are Critical

One of the common themes of the discussion is the need for independent, institutional frameworks for holding local government officials accountable. Without adequate checks, local government autonomy might lead to the “decentralisation of corruption,” stated Professor Remi Aiyede who teaches political science at the University of Ibadan. Dr Otive Igbuzor, founder of Centre LSD, submitted that to enshrine accountability at the local level: “Every local government must have an internal system of budgeting, internal systems of procurement and internal system of financial guidelines that are followed.” He added that there is the need for councillors to provide effective legislative oversight and for anti-corruption agencies to take more active interest in the activities of the local councils. 

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, promised that the anticorruption agency will henceforth beam the searchlight on the LGAs. “It is on this note that the EFCC serves a notice to the local government administrations that it will not be business as usual,” said Mr. Friday Ebele, representative of the EFCC Chairman. “Their activities will be scrutinised.”

Credible Elections are Non-negotiable

There was a consensus that officials elected freely by the people are more likely to be accountable to them than those imposed by the governors. To achieve the desired outcome, local elections must reflect the wishes of the people and must be credible, free and fair, Dr. Igbuzor added. Mr. Samson Itodo of Yiaga Africa agreed that local elections must pass the “integrity test” and stopped serving as mere “coronation” exercises through which governors instal their stooges.  Itodo identified the reasons why local elections are flawed and made a case for operational and financial autonomy for the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs). “The constitution clearly subjects the guidelines and the regulations of State Independent Electoral Commissions to the approval of the governors,” Itodo said. “So, whatever the SIECs do is subject to the approval of the governors. Whilst INEC's budget is a first line charge; at the states, there are only two institutions that are funded through first line charge: the state legislature and the state judicial commission.  So, there is need to strengthen financial autonomy for state independent electoral commissions.” However, he objected to the call to transfer LGA elections to INEC or to a new national electoral body.

Capacity Building Will be Key  

Several discussants highlighted the significant capacity gap between local governments and other tiers of government. Mr. Waziri Adio, the founder of Agora Policy, stated that “local government areas are the least capacitated in the country despite the enormous responsibilities placed on them in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution.” Ms. Ayomide Ladipo of BudgIT emphasized this issue, noting the challenges her organisation faces when interacting with local government officials. On his part, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, former Minister of Youth and Sport, said that “while corruption is a major problem, incompetence is a bigger problem.”

Alhaji Salawu Ozigi, the acting DG of ALGON (who stood in for the association’s national president) mentioned ongoing efforts to improve capacity at the local level through the development of administrative and operational templates. But the capacity challenge is not limited to the officials. Several contributors stressed the importance of educating the populace about the key responsibilities of local government areas and how to engage meaningfully in the governance process. This point was underscored by Dr. Kole Shettima of MacArthur Foundation who said most citizens wrongly believe that the president of the country should be responsible for things assigned to the LGAs. Capacity building will thus be needed across the board.

Local Governance Requires Local Participation

Most of the discussants also agreed that in order to entrench accountability at the local level, there needs to be adequate local participation in the governance process at the local level. There is need for citizens to have a sense of ownership and be involved in governance through different mechanisms such as participatory budgeting, citizens’ assembly and townhall meetings. Local associations and groups also need to play their parts in mobilising the people and articulating their needs and priorities and provide platforms for meaningful engagement between the officials and the people. “It is important to move from local government to local governance,” said Prof. Aiyede who wrote a Policy Noe on the same theme for Agora Policy. He also advocated for the local citizens to develop a sense of ownership and to be involved in the financing of their LGAs so as to address the current ‘non-correspondence’ problem where money is sent down from somewhere else. In short, the people need to be more involved politically, administratively and financially in the management of their local affairs.

Inclusion Must be Front and Centre

The LGAs are expected to promote democracy and participation at the local level. This means all segments of the society must be carried along. According to Ms Bukky Shonibare of Invictus Africa, the exclusion of women and other groups from governance and politics is replicated at the local level. She remarked “when we talk about historically marginalised and disadvantaged populations, we're not just talking about women. We are talking about youth because despite the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill, we still have an under-representation of young people. We are talking about persons with disabilities. We are also talking about ethnic minorities as well because they play a huge role especially at the local level.”

According to her, only 3.6% of local government chairpersons were women in 2015 and this increased to just 5% in 2024 when caretaker chairpersons are included. This is despite the fact that women and girls constitute about half of the Nigerian population. She advocated for an inclusive system that will build the capacity of women and other marginalised groups for higher offices and adequately drive political participation governance and in the democratic process. For direct allocations to LGAs to translate to better outcomes, no one must be left behind. Gender and social inclusion must be front and centre.