By Seyi Akinbodewa and Doyinsola Wale-Banmore | On Tuesday, 22 July 2025, Agora Policy convened a high-level policy dialogue to take stock of local governance reform in Nigeria about a year after the landmark judgment by the Supreme Court, which mandated direct federal allocations to the Local Government Areas (LGAs) and declared caretaker committees unconstitutional.
But the conversation was more than a review of compliance—it was a frank interrogation of the gap between legal reform and lived realities at the grassroots.
Attended by senior government officials, civil society leaders, academics, and development partners, the policy dialogue provided a platform for candid reflection on the pace, quality, and direction of local governance reform in the country. There was some consensus that the local councils, as the tier of government closest to citizens, are critical to national development, especially in delivering essential services such as basic education, primary healthcare, water, and sanitation. Participants, however, agreed that meaningful transformation remains elusive, despite the legal clarity offered by the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling. Chief among the obstacles is the continued use of the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA), widely viewed as a structural bottleneck. Other challenges cited included weak institutions, administrative resistance, inadequate fiscal capacity, and limited citizen engagement.
Ms. Ojobo Atuluku, Chair of Agora Policy, opened the dialogue by reaffirming the landmark nature of the Supreme Court ruling. While acknowledging the legal breakthrough, she issued a cautionary note: “This legal clarity has not yet translated into transformative change.” Building on that point, Dr. Kole Shettima, Country Director of the MacArthur Foundation, raised a deeper concern around policy ownership and accountability. “Is it that we’re short of policy ideas, or is it that politicians and contractors are the ones making policies?” he asked, highlighting the persistent disconnect between policy design and implementation. These opening reflections set the tone for the day’s conversation, one that moved beyond legal prescriptions to deliberations on how political will, institutional accountability, and citizen participation must shape the future of local governance.
Below are five takeaways from the conversation:
Collaboration and Responsibility Needed for Effective Implementation
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, stated that effective implementation of the ruling of the Supreme Court is not like “flicking on a switch.” He outlined the phased approach adopted by the Federal Government. The first stage, he said, is ensuring that only democratically elected LGAs receive federation allocations, and this has largely been achieved. But the second stage, establishing a fully functional mechanism for direct allocation to LGAs, is still a work-in-progress. “We must first stop allocation to unelected councils, and that’s done,” he said, adding that the next hurdle is to ensure credible and direct transfers. The Minister emphasized that meaningful reform requires more than legal clarity; it demands sustained coordination across all tiers of government. He linked the reforms to the broader “Renewed Hope Agenda,” stressing that local development must support national economic goals.
A major issue raised during the dialogue is the assumption that direct allocation to the LGAs will guarantee their viability. Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance and Chair of the Forum of State Finance Commissioners of Nigeria, contested this assumption and warned that many LGAs by themselves may struggle to fulfil basic but critical obligations with their current allocations. He called for an updated census and a revised revenue-allocation formula to accommodate the expanded responsibilities of some of the LGAs. “It seems we have put the cart before the horse,” he said, arguing that autonomy without financial reform is unlikely to succeed. He clarified that “states are not opposed to reform” but certain structural and legal uncertainties need to be addressed.
Mr. Victor Muruako, Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), reinforced the need for fiscal discipline at the subnational level. He cautioned that direct funding must be matched with improved public finance management to avoid the risks of mismanagement and indiscriminate borrowing. “Sending the funds alone will not be enough,” he stated. “We must ensure fiscal discipline and guard against indiscriminate borrowing at the local level.” Without effective public financial management frameworks, direct funding could lead to waste, abuse, or even deeper indebtedness. Together, these perspectives underscored a central theme of the conversation: that autonomy must be paired with structural reforms, financial responsibility, and a more equitable fiscal framework to deliver on its promise.
Emphasis Should be Not Just on Autonomy, But on Improved Services
Although the Supreme Court ruling was widely hailed as a legal milestone, several speakers argued that true reform requires a shift in focus, from procedural compliance to actual service delivery. Ms. Deborah Isser, Lead Governance Specialist at the World Bank, underscored this point. “Government does not exist for the sake of government but to provide public services,” she said. The real goal is better services for Nigerians, she stated. She warned against tokenistic measures such as snap elections, and instead urged for sustained, systemic collaboration to improve health, education, and infrastructure at the grassroots.
This sentiment was reinforced by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, who linked local governance to broader macroeconomic goals. He affirmed that achieving national development targets depends on the quality of governance and the efficiency of service delivery at the local level. The minister referenced the government’s forthcoming “HOPE programme” initiative, a reform package designed to build capacity of the LGAs and align local development with national priorities.
Hon. Akala Samuel Gajere, a former LGA chairman who represented the ALGON national president, affirmed the readiness of local administrators: “We have signed off for implementation since last year.” However, he flagged the continued use of the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) as a major constraint. He maintained that local officials have the required capacity to carry out their responsibilities once they get the allocations due to them. He also disclosed that ALGON has been meeting with stakeholders and conducting training for its members to build necessary support and capacity.
Coalition Building and Co-Production Critical to Success
Offering a comparative perspective, Professor Diana Mitlin of the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) shared insights from action research in 12 African cities, including Lagos.
She outlined four pillars of effective reform: elite commitment, citizen mobilisation, state capability, and broad-based coalitions. Mitlin, who is also a professor of global urbanism at the University of Manchester, praised co-production approaches where local governments collaborate with citizens’ groups and workers’ associations to jointly define and deliver priorities. She also spotlighted municipal finance, suggesting that improved property taxation could fund redistribution and bolster service delivery. Commending Agora Policy’s convening role, she said the organisation is “right to highlight the potential of local government reform in Nigeria” and applauded its success in “bringing together a multiplicity of voices, government, academia, and civil society.”
Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Oyebode maintained that the states are not opposed to the LGAs getting their money directly or to the making the local councils work better. It is in the interests of all that the councils deliver better services, he said. “The states are interested in ensuring that the reforms work well and in a manner that does not hinder governance, he said. He called for closer collaboration at the political level.
Ms. Cynthia Rowe, the Development Director of the British High Commission, urged the stakeholders to learn from each other and get the incentives right. Drawing on her experience in supporting decentralisation efforts in the United Kingdom and other places, she highlighted five other lessons: clarity of roles is essential; strategic planning must accompany autonomy; citizen engagement builds legitimacy; fiscal autonomy must be come with strong safeguards; and free and fair elections are the foundations of public trust.
Reform Should be Grounded in Local Realities and Citizen Agency
Speakers from civil society and academia reminded the audience that reform cannot be sustained from the top down alone; it must be rooted in local realities. Professor Remi Aiyede of the University of Ibadan described local governance reform as Nigeria’s “unfinished business,” stalled by years of weak implementation and political interference. He proposed a governance model that is more deeply anchored in community participation and local accountability. Professor Tunji Olaopa, Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, supported this view, noting that in the absence of effective local governments, community structures have evolved into coping mechanisms. He advocated for hybrid governance models that formally integrate grassroots resilience into official policymaking frameworks.
Dr. Umar Yakubu, Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CFTPI), highlighted a significant disconnect between citizens and their local officials. “Take a poll in this hall: how many of you know your LGA chairman? Probably less than 20%,” he said. This illustrates the urgent need to improve civic literacy and increase transparency at the local level. He argued that empowering credible community figures, including midwives, teachers, and retired civil servants, to contest local elections could inject much-needed experience and legitimacy into LGA leadership. Others echoed the call for inclusive governance, stressing that community-based organisations should have a formal role in shaping policy and monitoring implementation.
Quality of Elections and Level of Inclusion Matter
Concerns about the democratic quality of local governance were central to the conversation. Mr. Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, said that though the number of states with democratically elected councils increased from 14 to 36 after the ruling, the quality of elections largely remains the same. He warned of growing “democratic erosion,” describing local elections as “stage-managed” and lacking credibility. “Votes were allocated, not counted,” he said, calling for a robust overhaul of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), urging that they be given the same independence, funding, and capacity as INEC to enable them to conduct more credible polls. According to him, the real issue is not whether elections are held, but whether they are credible and inclusive.
Building on this point, Hajia Saudatu Mahdi of the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) drew attention to the exclusion of women and persons with disabilities in governance processes, especially at the local level. She shared data indicating that 66% of women and people with disabilities remain unaware of ongoing LGA reforms and argued that reforms that do not deliberately include marginalised groups risk becoming “elitist exercises.” She championed vernacular civic education and grassroots mobilisation to build inclusive political will, reframing political will not as something bestowed by leaders but as a shared social contract. It should be, she said, “we the people agreeing that this is what we expect to see, and will demand.”
