LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS A THIRD TIER IN NIGERIA: THE CONTENDING ISSUES

This work focused on Legal and constitutional status of local government as a third tier in Nigeria: the contending issues. The study was carried out to determine the contribution of local government in rural development. Based on that, the researcher formulated and used two research objectives, two research questions and two research hypotheses. The researcher therefore employed descriptive survey research design for the study and questionnaires were used as the instrument of data collection. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentage and frequencies, the hypotheses were tested using chi-square. The findings revealed that there is a significant impact of local government as third tier of government on rural road maintenance in Imo state; and Local government as third tier of government enhances primary health care/education in Imo state. The study recommends that the conduct of local government elections should be organized and supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rather than State Electoral Commissions (SIECs). Also in order to augment local government revenues and to sustain its proposed fiscal autonomy, its sources of revenue as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution must of necessity be expanded.