Introduction
Your local government is supposed to fix that bad road, pay the health worker at your clinic, and keep the market running smoothly. But across Nigeria, most LGs have become ghost institutions—underfunded, unelected, and invisible. What was meant to bring government closer to the people has been hijacked by political convenience. The collapse of local governance isn’t mere neglect—it’s a quiet strategy. And while communities suffer, someone is winning. The question is: who?
The Grassroots Dream: What Local Governments Were Designed to Do
Local governments in Nigeria were created to bring governance closer to the people. Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution tasks them with basic but vital responsibilities: fixing community roads, managing local markets, providing sanitation, and delivering primary healthcare and education.
They were meant to be visible, accessible, and accountable—the tier that meets the people where they live. In a country this vast, LGs should have been the pulse of public service.
But today, that vision is fading. What was once designed as a democratic bridge has become a forgotten footnote—undermined not by accident, but by political design. And behind that design, someone always benefits.
Powerless by Design: Why Nigeria’s Local Governments Are Failing
1. Constitutional Shackles
The foundation of LG dysfunction lies in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution. Though it recognizes local governments as a tier of government, Section 7 gives state governments the power to create, fund, and dissolve them. This vague legal structure makes LGs politically dependent and legally weak. Until the Constitution is amended to grant true autonomy, local governments will remain in limbo—visible on paper, powerless in reality.
2. Financial Strangulation by Governors
Local governments are financially trapped. Although entitled to federal allocations, funds are routed through the State Joint Local Government Account, controlled by governors. According to a 2022 NULGE report, many LGs receive only a fraction of what’s due—some don’t even know their full allocation.
This system leaves LGs unable to plan, execute projects, or pay workers consistently. They’ve become glorified payroll units—existing in name but stripped of function.
3. No Real Elections, No Real Representation
Local democracy in Nigeria is largely a mirage. Rather than hold credible elections, many governors install caretaker committees—loyal appointees who serve the state, not the people. In 2016, the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional, yet the practice continues.
Without elected leaders, LGs lack legitimacy. The people lose not just services, but their right to representation.
4. Rigged by Design: How SIECs Undermine Local Democracy
Even when local elections are held, the outcome is often predetermined. State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) are controlled by governors, making fair competition unlikely. In states like Akwa Ibom and Katsina, the ruling party has won 100% of LG seats—a trend the CLEEN Foundation calls a “mockery of democracy.”
Without genuine contests, elections become coronations, not choices.
Feeding Off the Collapse: Who Profits from Weak LGs?
1. State Governors: The Real Chairmen
In most states, governors act as de facto LG chairmen. With control over disbursement through the joint account system, they dictate what LGs can and cannot do.
When the NFIU tried to restrict this in 2019, governors from Zamfara, Delta, and Kano pushed back—proving how deeply entrenched this power structure is.
2. State Houses of Assembly: The Silent Enablers
These assemblies were meant to check executive excesses—but in reality, many protect the governors. In 2022, only 10 out of 36 Houses supported LG autonomy in the constitutional amendment process.
By refusing to act, they deepen the collapse of grassroots democracy. And often, they do it to preserve their own political survival.
3. Political Parties and Patronage Networks
Local governments are not just for service—they’re for strategy. For ruling parties, LGs serve as instruments of loyalty. Jobs, contracts, and positions are given not on merit but to reward insiders.
In 2021, the APC won all 44 LG seats in Kano State—a repeat pattern across the country. According to the Centre for Democracy and Development, these elections have become “a patronage ritual, not a democratic process.” And it’s the people who pay for that ritual.
This Is What You Lose When Local Government Fails
1. No Services, No Presence
Roads remain broken. Clinics stay empty. Boreholes stop working. The everyday signs of governance disappear—and so does hope. For many Nigerians, the LG no longer exists in practice. The absence is not just structural—it’s deeply personal.
2. Disconnection and Despair
When local leaders are unelected and unreachable, people stop believing. Apathy replaces activism. If no one is accountable, why speak up? In that silence, a dangerous message grows: no one is coming.
3. When Elections Don’t Matter Anymore
When local elections are rigged or canceled, it violates citizens’ constitutional rights. If councillors are selected, not elected, what’s left of democracy? Over time, the vote becomes symbolic—meaningless. And when the people are silenced, democracy dies quietly.
Final Words
Local government was designed to bring democracy home—to make governance feel personal, visible, and accountable. But in Nigeria today, that promise has collapsed under political manipulation, legal neglect, and silent consent. This isn’t just a failure of service delivery—it’s the quiet dismantling of democratic rights.
The damage is deep: when people stop seeing government at the grassroots, they stop believing in government at all.
Rebuilding trust starts with restoring power where it belongs— in the hands of the people, through real, functional, and truly autonomous local governments.
