Influence of the State/local Government Joint Account and Local Government Administration
Influence of the State/local Government Joint Account and Local Government Administration
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
According to the 1979 and 1999 constitutions, local government is the third tier of government in Nigeria with their own identity, powers and sources of revenue established under the state legislation and with functions for which they are responsible to the state. It is a political administrative unit that is empowered by law to administer a specific locality and responsible for management of the public affairs of the power of a locality such as a group of villages, towns or a city (Agboko, 2004)
Local government in Nigeria is a product of decentralization and is established by law. As a federal state, Nigeria has three tiers of government (Federal, state and local government) whose intergovernmental relations (which include political, financial, judicial and administrative) are mainly established by the constitution. Each tier is required to operate within its area of jurisdiction, and any action to the contrary is null and void the extent of its inconsistency with the law. This is meant to guarantee the autonomy of each tier as it discharges it statutory duties to the people of its territory.
The fourth schedule of the 1999 constitution as amended identifies functions of the local government to include provision of essential services such as good drinking water, building boreholes in the rural and urban communities to complement the effects of the water boards, electricity supply, an efficient waste disposal system, recreational facilities, construction, reconstruction and maintenance of local and other access roads, bridges and cultures, quality and affordable primary healthcare and educational services etc.
However, to be able to meet the aforementioned demands and address the felt needs of the rural dwellers and their qualitative and effective delivery, government at the grassroots need finances to meet expectation, as a result, the 1999 constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria made provision for the operation of state and local Government councils Joints Account System. Accordingly, the 1999 constitution sanctions the intergovernmental relations between Nigeria stipulates the fiscal relations between the tiers of government as contained in section 162 sub- sections 1 to 8 especially state thus;
The federation shall maintain a special account to be a called “the federation Account into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the government of the federation.
The president upon the receipt of advice from the revenue mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals from the federation account and in determining the formula, the National Assembly Proposals from the federation Account and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles especially those of population, equality of states, internal revenue generation, landmass terrain as well as population density, provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in the any approved formula as being not less than thirteen percent of the revenue accruing to the federation account directly from any natural resources. Any amount standing to the credit of the federation account shall be distributed among the federal and states and the local government councils in each state on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly Any amount standing to the credit of the states in the federation account shall be distributed among the states on such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
Influence of the State/local Government Joint Account and Local Government Administration
The amount standing to credit the local government councils in the federation account shall also be allocated to the states for the benefit of their local government o9n such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
Each state shall maintain a special account to be called “State Joint Local Government Accounts” into which shall be paid all allocations to the local government councils of the state from the federation account and from the government of the state. Each state shall pay to the local government councils in its area of jurisdiction such proportion of its total revenue on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly. The amount standing to the credit of local government councils of a state shall be distributed among the local government councils of that state on such terms and in such manner a may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of the state (Funsho, 2013).
However, section 7(6B) makes provision for statutory allocation of revenue to the local government councils in a state, from the federation Account. This sharing formula reflect percentage of each tier of government – 26. 72% and local Government -20.60%. According to Nigerian Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE) in their memorandum to National Assembly constitutional Review Committee (2012). The operation of state – Local Government Joint Account System as provided by the 1999 constitution leaves much to be desired, as state governments in Nigeria have seen this as an opportunity, for diverting the local government statutory allocations from federation account into their own uses carefully hidden under special of deductions.
Instead of acting as a cheque to the efficient management of the funds accruing to the local government councils from federation account, the states are rather deducting local government council funds recklessly through the Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC) System and interference with the independence and operations of the local government councils by aborting democratic government through the suspension of elections and imposing care-taker administration, thereby usurping the statutory functions of the local government committee as well as plundering and tampering with the statutory allocation due to the local government from the federation account, thus constituting a major challenge and problem to rural development in Nigeria (Bright and Robinson, 2014). Theses problems are the reasons for this study to investigate and make recommendations on the way forward for Ikono Local Government Area and indeed all Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria as a whole.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Over the years, Local Government Councils in Nigeria have not been able to meet up with the demands which necessitated their creation for example, they have not been able to provide quality services at the grass root due to financial incapacitation as a result of the state- local government Joint Account, thus posting Huge challenges to the local administrations in Nigeria with attendant effects on the masses. Therefore, the need to examine the operation of state local administration in Ikono Local Government Area, hence, is the rationale for this study.
Influence of the State/local Government Joint Account and Local Government Administration
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the state – local Government Joint Account as it affect Local Government Administration in Ikono Local Government Area. Specifically, the study seeks to;
i assess the effects of operation of state – local Government Joint Account on primary education in Ikono Local Government Area.
ii Determine the impact of state – local Government Joint Account on Provision of primary Health Care in Ikono Local Government Area.
iii assess the impact of state – local Government Joint Account on the provision of good roads in Ikono Local Government Area.
1.4 Researcher Questions
The following research questions were formulated to guide the conduct of this study.
i What are the factors responsible for poor service delivery in the Local Government Areas.
ii What are the effect of operation of state – Local Government Joint Account
iii What are the factors responsible for the abuse of state- local Government Joint Account by State Governments in Nigeria.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The result of the findings will be of great benefits to the educator, government and researchers in the following ways:
- It will helps to enlighten the management of the Local Government Councils in Nigeria on the roles of Local administrations into the development of the grassroots.
- It will identify reasons why state Governments abuse Local Government finances.
- It will promote knowledge on the operation and sources of finance of Local Government Areas.
- Will be immense benefit as aid and guide to future researchers who will want to venture into a similar topic.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study was based on the operation of state – local Government Joint Account in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The study focused on how state – local Government Joint Account affect service delivery at the Local Government levels and factors responsible for abuse of Joint Account by the state Governments.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
This study suffers a lot of constraints, which include among others finance, time and attitude of the respondents.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Local Government: is a political administrative unit that is empowered by law to administer a specific locality. It is the governing body of such on entity elected or otherwise selected to take care of the local affairs and needs of their locality.
Rural Development: According to Okey (2010), rural development is the articulation, provision and stimulation of economic activities, health and educational advancement facilities, and utilities for rural.
Finance Management: this is the managerial activity which is concerned with planning and controlling of financial resources of an entity or establishment.
State –Local Government Joint Account: This refers to a constitutional creation that fools the statutory allocations of all local Governments in a state together for onward distribution by the state to its Local Governments.
