THE IMPACT OF STATE GOVERNMENT POLITICAL INTERFERENCE ON THE FINANCIAL AUTONOMY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA
Usman Bashir
Volume 11 Issue 1
Abstract
The study examines the impact of state government political interference on the financial autonomy of local governments in Nigeria. Local governments are expected to be autonomous entities responsible for providing basic services to grassroots communities. However state government political interference consistently undermined their financial autonomy hindering their ability to effectively discharge their constitutional responsibilities. The study reveal that political interference from the state government manifest in various forms including illegal deduction of fund from the sources, imposition of unnecessary projects and programme. Interference in the management of local government finance and delay in releasing allocated fund, resulted in reduced financial resources for local governments, inability to execute development projects and inefficiency in service delivery. This study adopted qualitative research design using phenomenology and semi structure interview with purposively selected informants for data collection. The study recommends that strengthening legal frame to protect local government autonomy, established independent revenue allocation committee, encouraging community participation in local government affairs and implementing fiscal federalism to reduced dependence on state government. Key words: Local governments, Local government financial autonomy, State government Political interference
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