The overbearing role of state over local government and provisions of 1999 constitution: Where is local level autonomy in Nigeria?

Abstract

The provision of section 7 of 1999 Constitution by apex court judgment and extra-judicial pronouncements put local governments under the apron of state government. This control has been in the front burner of discourse in Nigerian politics since 1999 till date especially grassroots governance. The paper examines state-local relations from legal and operational view- points, illustrates how state government set aside the intent of 1999 Constitution that institute local government system properly organized, monitored supervised by state level. The paper adopted developmental theory as its framework as propounded by Lele, Zamani, Ola & Adamolekun. The data were collected through primary and secondary source; relevant data were analyzed supplemented with in- depth interview subjected to descriptive and infernal statistical analysis. Pearson Product Movement Correlation was used to analyze dependent and independent variables while t-test was employed to test the hypotheses. The paper found out that local level has failed because state government refuse has failed to perform their responsibilities in line with the tenets of the 1999 Constitution and other extant laws. There is need for an efficient and effective local government system on the premise of federal decentralized system. It has been noted that the existing legal framework require adjustment by granting local level, state assembly and state judiciary autonomy to checkmate the excess of state level. In accomplishing this will improve the interaction, cooperation and relation for a virile local government system in Nigeria.