LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL AUTONOMY: Not Enough without Democratic Control by Workers and Community People

By - DSM

LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL AUTONOMY: Not Enough without Democratic Control by Workers and Community People

On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled on the financial autonomy of the country’s 774 local government councils. This judgment following a suit brought forth by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Federal Minister of Justice, to end the unconstitutional manipulation of local government funds by state governments. However, despite the apparent legal victory, the autonomy will not automatically benefit the ordinary people or engender development at the grassroots level.

By Moshood Oshunfunrewa

THE ILLUSION OF FINANCIAL AUTONOMY

The Supreme Court supposedly empowered local governments to control their budgets and resources independently of state interference. In theory, this would enable local councils to allocate funds for essential infrastructure, primary healthcare, primary education and local development projects without state governors calling the shots. In practice, however, this is a mere illusion.

The financial structure of local governments remains shackled by the Joint Account System, where disbursements from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) are controlled by state governments. Governors have repeatedly exploited this arrangement to siphon off funds meant for local development, diverting them instead to their political cronies and pet projects and to guarantee the local council chairperson’s blind loyalty. This undermines the very essence of financial autonomy, leaving local councils as mere cash cows for state-level elites. Consequently, local government chairmen, emboldened by this lack of accountability, engage in brazen corruption, diverting resources meant for public welfare into private pockets.

The systemic siphoning of funds has led to the dilapidation of primary healthcare centers and schools, failed road infrastructure, and a general collapse of essential services. Instead of focusing on constitutional responsibilities such as community development, education, and social welfare, local council leaders indulge in “fake empowerment programs” that serve as smokescreens for financial misappropriation. These programs are often used as tools to funnel money to political godfathers and loyalists rather than genuinely uplifting the local populace.

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL: AN EXTENSION OF STATE POWER

The issue of financial autonomy cannot be fully addressed without examining the administrative control that state governments exert over local councils. The recent rush by states like Kano, Rivers, and Abia to conduct local government elections following the Supreme Court judgment highlights the manipulative tendencies of ruling parties. In these states, local elections were swiftly organized, with results that favored the ruling parties across the board. This pattern reveals a clear strategy: state governors of practically every party are not interested in fostering true financial autonomy but rather sustaining their influence and consolidating their grip on local governance to maintain control over financial resources.

In Lagos State, where the ruling party’s allegiance to President Bola Tinubu is strong, the hesitance to conduct local government elections or reform the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) underscores the deference to political godfatherism. The Lagos State House of Assembly’s proposal to grant the state the power to appoint LCDA chairpersons further solidifies this undemocratic trend. Such a move indicates that state leaders, regardless of party affiliation, are more interested in retaining power and control rather than advancing supposed democratic reforms.

NULGE SHOULD FIGHT FOR TRUE FINANCIAL AUTONOMY

The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) should be at the forefront of defending local democracy, serving the interests of the local community and advocating the rights and welfare of local government staff. It is not enough to fight local government autonomy, the leadership of the union must fight for prudence in the management of local government finance and hold corrupt officials accountable.

Unfortunately, many NULGE officials are lackeys often installed or influenced by local council chairpersons who have self-serving interests in the LGAs attracting more funds. This compromised stance leaves local government workers and the communities they serve in a perpetual state of neglect and political manipulations. The union must transform from an appendage of the local ruling parties into a fighting force for workers’ rights and local democracy.

FOR A RADICAL CHANGE

The failure of financial autonomy as a concept lies in its half-hearted implementation within a capitalist framework that prioritizes profit and political patronage over the welfare of the people. As long as state governors and local chairmen remain entrenched in a system driven by self-interest, cronyism, and corruption, no law or judgement can automatically bring about a real change in the interest of working people and the poor.

Local government autonomy, as it stands, is a deceptive concept within the current capitalist framework. For it to be meaningful, it must be accompanied by a broader socialist restructuring, where resources are managed democratically, and the welfare of the people is prioritized over profit. The Nigerian masses, particularly community people and local government workers, must wake up to the reality that their liberation will not come from legal decrees or half-hearted bourgeois reforms but through organized struggle and a radical shift towards a socialist model of governance.

In other words, a genuine solution lies in workers and community people democratically controlling and managing local government. To actualize a working people-oriented governance, it would involve building of a mass-based political party that rallies working people at local, state, and federal levels to struggle for political power and fight for a system that use the collective human and material resources for the needs of the vast majority, not the interest of a few.

Workers and community people should fight for the following:
Full participation of community members, local government employees, and independent civil society groups in the budgeting process. This ensures transparency, accountability, and prioritization of local needs.
Abolition of joint account system in favor of a direct allocation of funds from the federation account to local governments. This would reduce the opportunity for state-level interference and corruption.
An end to corrupt contract system which is a conduit pipe for looting. For the setting of Public Works Department that will be democratically controlled and managed by workers and community people.
For a local government that invest in agriculture for food sustainability.
Unions like NULGE must be democratized and made independent from the influence of bourgeois politicians. Trade unions and workers must hold local council leaders accountable, push for transparency, and advocate for workers’ rights.
Right to independent candidacy to enable genuine workers and community activists to stand as candidates. For genuine and credible elections at local government levels and an end to electoral manipulation.
For a working peoples party on socialist programme