Local Government Administration Autonomy and Issues Around Intergovernmental Relations in Nigeria

This topic local government administration and autonomy and issues around intergovernmental relations is a very cogent and relevant topic. Here in this paper local government administration autonomy and issues around intergovernmental relations in Nigeria has been exhaustively discussed. A lot of battles have been fought, back and forth by the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for autonomy and freedom to operate as a third tier of government for grass-root development. This struggle actually started with the advent of the fourth republic and democratic rule in May, 1999, when there was so much perceived encroachment by the state governments on the autonomy of the local governments. At the commencement of the democratic rule in 1999 the civilian government maintained the intergovernmental relations that existed during the military administration. However, after four years of the civilian administration some state governors started questioning the financial autonomy of the local governments, which is the third tier of government. This issue became a cause of concern for many Nigerians and the federal government, this led to the passing of a bill for financial autonomy by the National Assembly in 2024 which was equally assented to by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria. This action has become a reason for legal tussle between the state governors who are challenging local government autonomy and the federal government. The supreme court of Justice in Nigeria has affirmed the law, but unfortunately the implementation of the law is far from being achieved. This paper looks at the three-tier system of government in Nigeria, different types of government, local government administration in Nigeria, local administration during pre-colonial and colonial era, local government autonomy, intergovernmental relations between the three-tiers of government, local government administration and autonomy and issues around intergovernmental relations, conclusion, and recommendations for repositioning local government for effective local government administration in Nigeria.