Local governments must be primed to work for the people
Over the years, many of the 36 states in the country have habitually shortchanged their councils by disbursing only a fraction of the accruable funds and keeping the rest without regard to transparency and accountability. The effects of these have been chronic underdevelopment of the council areas which, castrated as they are, remain unable to deliver on their primary mandate of providing basic social infrastructure, including primary healthcare, primary education, feeder roads and modern markets, at the local levels. But in a landmark judgment on local government autonomy last July, the Supreme Court ruled that henceforth, allocations from the federation account are to be paid directly into individual local government account and no more through the State – Local Government Joint Account.
With that judgment, the highest court in the country effectively nullified Section 162 (6) of the 1999 constitution which established the joint account into which monies due to the councils from the federation account are paid for onward disbursement to them by the states. But implementing the judgment has not been easy because many of the governors oppose the idea of local governments in their states having direct accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Apart from that, there is also the lack of capacity for accountability and transparency at the local government level.
To address some of these challenges, the Centre for Fiscal Responsibility and Public Integrity (CeFRPI) recently collaborated with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to launch the Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments (ACPPLG) portal as a strategic intervention to curtail corrupt practices at the grassroots level. With representatives from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), National Assembly Committees on Anti-corruption and international organizations like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the discussions at the forum were frank and productive.
The CeFRPI executive director and convener, Umar Yakubu, explained that the portal has been developed to host the profiles and score of local governments based on their performance on the ACPPLG with the ICPC as primary driver. He added that the Center will also provide support in training representatives of local government to institutionalise fiscal transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. The ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu, called on state governments to actively support the smooth implementation of the ACPP-LG reforms.
We endorse the initiative and commend CeFRPI. The 1999 constitution in its Fourth Schedule outlines the functions, duties and responsibilities of the local governments. Unfortunately, the same constitution is silent regarding any protective mechanism that guarantees their financial and political autonomy. Most crucial decisions were left at the whims of the state governors who effectively hijacked the local governments in their states, using their funds to dispense patronage to cronies.
At the CeFRPI event, there were calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Whistle Blower Protection Bill which is critical in fighting corruption. Concerns were also raised about establishing a robust process to ensure that funds allocated to local governments are disbursed directly, without any interference from state governments. But all the stakeholders agreed that an effective local government system, where the chairmen and councillors are prepared to work and where they are not stifled by the governors, is much needed for human development.
Indeed, if we must upgrade the quality of leadership to bring back the glorious days when council administrations were the nucleus of governance in the country, a new framework must be formulated. We hope the Supreme Court judgment will be the spurs for that much-needed reform of the local government system in Nigeria.