Ugwuozor, Ifeanyi Samuel and Umeh, Lucy Chinwe and Francisca, Obiageli Fedi (2024) The Supreme Court Judgment on Financial Autonomy for Local Governments and Good Governance at the Grassroots. Innovations (79). pp. 1992-2004.
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Abstract
The paper examines the structure of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and established that Nigeria is explicitly a federation of two levels of government in accordance with section 2(2) of the constitution. But the constitution at the same provided for a third tier or third order government; the local government, with explicit and constitutionally guaranteed or approved exclusively and concurrent responsibilities and sources of revenue, whose officials are also like the federal and state governments constitutionally and democratically elected.Although the local government is a third tier government, there is a general view that the local government are abysmally failing in providing services as prescribed in the constitution effectively and efficiently to the people. Some of the principal reasons adduced for this state of affairs are the strangulating meddlesomeness of the state government, exemplified in their tendency to deny local governments of the constitutionally guaranteed revenue from federation account, coupled with the intimidating practice of arbitrary removal of democratically elected local government chairmen from office by State Governors at their fancy. It is in light of this that this paper views the Supreme Court judgment ordering direct remittances of revenue to local government account from the federation account and barring Governors from arbitrarily removing democratically elected local government from office as a veritable and sustainable action towards guaranteeing good governance to local government councils as developmental democratically and most importantly an efficient and effective governance institution in service delivery to its people. The paper relies on content analysis and doctrinal approaches using relevant literatures such as books, journals, case laws, statutes, the constitution and internet sources. The theoretical model adopted for this paper is the Efficiency School of Thought. The whole essence of this paper is to high light the responsibilities of local government as a governmental agent of service to the people and the impediments for its failure to do so. The paper is supportive of the judgment of the Supreme Court and recommends that the judgment should be enforced.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HJ Public Finance |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Management and Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | mrs chioma hannah |
| Date Deposited: | 05 May 2025 08:33 |
| Last Modified: | 05 May 2025 08:33 |
| URI: | http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/4470 |
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