But there are some portions of the 1999 constitution that need to be touched to be in line with the autonomy of the local government. Why local governments should be given autonomy vanguard news. Pdf local government autonomy and state reliance on. Local government autonomy the debate on local government autonomy focuses on what powers and functions the central or regional or state government should grant to the local units within the political system for more discussion on this issue see clark, 1984. Local government and regeneration committee 8th report. The autonomy concept which is defined in the european charter of local self government as the right and opportunity for the local governments within the limits laid down by the laws to. The scope and future of local government autonomy in nigeria. Negative binomial regression is used to analyze the link between the administrative, fiscal, functional, and structural autonomy permitted to municipal and county governments and the number of special districts in each state over the 19922002.
Local government importance a local government system in which local government is free to do what it wishes but has no possibility of doing anything important does not conform to our concept of local autonomy. The authority relationship among the national, state and local governments is very crucial. Local government must enjoy substantial autonomy to perform array of functions, plan, formulate and execute. Association of victoria which have funded the fellowship and. Local government and fiscal autonomy for local government in. A veritable tool for redressing usurpation of powers of local governments by the state governments in nigeria. Financial autonomy for local governments the sun nigeria. They are in fact political structures that have increasingly become sad and forceful reminders of the systematic.
The principle of autonomy is an important issue for local governments because it cannot functions efficiently without appreciable elements of. The autonomy of local governments and the place of the 4th. Pdf local government autonomy and its effectiveness in nigeria. I want to say that the autonomy of local government is a good idea.
A comparative analysis of local government administration in britain and nigeria. Pdf local government lg is an intermediary player between the federal authority and the grassroots in a given society. Economic impact of local government autonomy and fund. Specifically, our argument in this paper is that though decentralization promotes allocative and productive efficiency quality service delivery but. The paper, therefore, suggests a new focus in which the emphasis should be on the desirability or otherwise of substantial autonomy for local governments in nigeria. In mainland tanzania, the constitution of the united republic 1977, articles 145 and 146 states that the national assembly or the house of representatives must provide for local government. Different state courts can, and often do, interpret identical constitutional language differently.
The three regional governments enacted the northern, western and eastern nigeria local government laws of 1954 respectively. Local government autonomy has to do with the area of finance. The new york state department of state division of local government services. In this article, we measure the degree of local autonomy guaranteed by the 20 constitution. In conclusion, the authors pointed out that lack of independence of the local governments is as a result of lack of fiscal autonomy which in turn explains the. Home rule for municipal and county governments is now available in most states. The process of democratizing local government administration started as far back as 1954. An apparisal of the autonomy of local government as a. Local government must be administered by democratically elected officials. It is nonetheless enshrined in the union constitution as well as in the constitutions of the mainland and zanzibar. Comparing local government autonomy across states comparing. Local government and the states autonomy politics and policy autonomy politics and policy download local government and the states autonomy politics and policy autonomy politics and policy ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. The e uropean charter on local autonomy defines local self government as the right and ability of local authorities within the limits set by law, to manage public services in the.
The role of local government in rural development issues. Together, these local entities make up the third tier of government, the first tier being. The research focused on theimpact of local government autonomy and fund management. The topical issue of local government lg autonomy in nigeria in relation to the development of the localities, the raison detre of lgs, has been examined in this. Local government autonomy in nigeria kamlaraj enterprises. Local government autonomy and state reliance on special district. Decentralization and the increased autonomy in local. The e uropean charter on local autonomy defines local selfgovernment as the right and ability of local authorities within the limits set by law, to manage public services in the.
Local government administration in nigeria has been in existence since 1972 and its primary function is to bring government nearer to the people at the grassroots. A key element of local selfgovernment is financial autonomy. Reacting to issues on local government autonomy, president muhammadu buhari said, apparently, it is corruption that led to the relegation of local governments to the grip of state governments. Local government and fiscal autonomy for local government. Section 14 subsection 2a of the 1999 constitution says sovereignty belongs to the people of nigeria from whom the government derives its authority and power fawehinmi, 2001. Local government administration in nigeria has been in existence since 1972 and its primary function is to bring government nearer to. Local government, autonomy, comparative, democratic and service delivery. Download pdf local government and the states autonomy. The paper will also examine some of the inherent factors inhibiting local government autonomy in nigeria. Conservative as well as labour governments and oppositions have traditionally spoken in support of the principle of local selfgovernment and local autonomy. The nigeria union of local government employees nulge south west zone, said the approval of local government autonomy will help put an end to the security challenges in most of the rural. This book offers an overview of the legal, political, and broad intergovernmental environment in which relations between local and state units of government take place, the historical roots of the conflict among them, and an analysis of contemporary problems concerning local authority, local revenues, state interventions and takeovers, and the restructuring of local governments. The system of local government in south africa is relatively new and thus it aims. A comparative analysis of local government administration.
The notion that local government autonomy has important implications for a. Abstract local governments are not sovereign unlike independent nationstates. According to tukur, fiscal federalism is all about fiscal equity and financial independence among the federating units. Autonomy of local government in relation to other levels or tiers of government manifests itself in three critical areas as follows. Local government in spain refers to the government and administrative powers exercised by what the constitution calls local entities, principally municipalities, but there are also various forms of supramunicipal bodies such as provincial councils and cabildos and submunicipal bodies such as comarcas.
Click download or read online button to local government and the states autonomy politics and policy autonomy politics and policy book pdf. The local councils can hardly be developmental, just as they are practically tied to the apron strings of the state by the constitution. The local governments are closer to the people and are in a better position to meet the needs of their people and at the same time, complement the work of the state government so it beats me how. Local government autonomy in nigeria semantic scholar. We also use cluster analysis to create a classification scheme for different forms of local government autonomy. Local government autonomy as an imperative for true. The notion that local government autonomy has important implications for a states local government structure is fast approaching conventional wisdom. This is with a view to understanding the intricacies of the fundamental problem of local government autonomy in nigeria. The term used in this paper to describe the ability of local governments to make decisions about the services it delivers without interference from the centre is the. The constitution serves as a supreme law of the country and any other legislation, policies or conduct that are not consistent with it become null and void. C wheare, is the method of dividing powers so that the central and regional governments are each, within a sphere, coordinate and independent. If local governments should be granted autonomy it will be a welcome idea. A local government is, at the grassroots level of administration, meant for meeting the peculiar needs of the people agagu, 1997.
It is important to note that the federal government has over the years joined in. The constitution empowers the state to scrutinize and approve local government budgets, and expenditure through the state house of assembly, states here exercise arbitrary and undue control over local government. Pdf local government autonomy and its effectiveness in. Developmental local government challenges and progress in. Since the inception of the system of local government in nigeria, there had been persistent clamour for the autonomy of the local government as the third tier of governance in the federation. By state constitutional and or general law provisions, 48 states grant home rule au thority to municipalities and 37 states grant such powers to counties. New york state has a tradition of home rule authority and providing citizens with a strong voice in their local governments.
Local government must have specific powers to perform a range of functions assigned it by law. The objective of the study is to find out whether local government areas are adequately funded in the present dispensation to tackle their statutory functions and responsibilities to the rural people and to determine the effect of the autonomy in the local. During babangida regime 19841992 there were certain measures aimed at ensuring local government autonomy. By that i mean the local government should be put in check. Local governance requires members of local councils to be elected.
These include the abolition of the ministry of local government. Local government autonomy news latest breaking stories. Local government and regeneration committee 8th report, 2014 session 4 flexibility and autonomy in local government the committee reports to the parliament as follows summary of findings strand 1 contrasting the position of local government with the constitutional and legal framework in neighbouring eu jurisdictions. Economic development, constitutional powers, autonomy, and decentralization. The quest or agitation for local government autonomy has been a recurring decimal in the evolution of the nigerian federation. Article information, pdf download for local government autonomy and state. The government will implement the decentralization reform, in accordance with the european charter of local autonomy, as an improvement of the quality of governance in direction of efficiency and effectiveness, as well in direction of strengthening accountability and increased autonomy of local government units. Local government handbook new york department of state. The place and role of local government in federal systems konrad. The writing of this paper has been supported by the australian research council and the municipal. Local government in the 20 constitution of zimbabwe.
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