LOCAL government administrations have become the most constitutionally abused matter in Nigeria since the 1999 Constitution became operational. Only a handful of States hold local government elections. Others carry on as if it is legal to run local governments without the Constitution that created them.

As local government elections hold in Lagos on Saturday, both politicians and the electorate have a chance to evaluate the degree of reverses that have been seen in local governments which were reformed in 1976 with a high level of autonomy.

Section 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution states: “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to Section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”

The same Constitution in Section 8 unleashed the first of the encumbrances that have become defences for the National Assembly and State governments when minimise the constitutional role of local governments.

After the confusion over the term of the local governments and the manoeuvrings that led to extensions, some States (among them Anambra) have resorted to appointing caretaker committees. Elections are held at the discretion of the States. Such elections no longer draw from their constitutional ordering.

State governments find the funds allocated to local governments too attractive to leave. They must control them. Local governments earn their tenure to their obeisance to the State governments. Some elected council executives have been sacked or impeached at the instance of governors.

Professor Ben Nwabueze in a 1983 book on local governments, summarised federalism as an arrangement where powers of government within a country are shared between a national, country-wide government and a number of regionalised governments in a way that each exists as a government separately and independently from the others. The autonomy would include operating directly on persons and property within its territorial area, with a will of its own and its own apparatus for the conduct of its affairs, and with an authority in some matters exclusive of all the others.

Local governments as a third level of government are closest to the people. If federalism from the perception of mutual agreement by levels of government to share power of the state in formal constitutional or legalistic arrangements, then governments would have understood why they need to make the local governments run properly. Without respect for the powers of the local governments, the separateness, and independence that their operations entail, democracy will not make much progress. The autonomy of federating unit must be respected.

Some of the developments that opened up the country came after the 1976 local government reforms, when governments also funded local governments well.

Drearier is the low quality of personnel that work in most local government administrations. While Alhaji Shehu Shagari moved from being a local government chairman to President of Nigeria, most politicians shun the local government administrations, increasing the burden of administering them.

Governments have to pay more attention to local government by ensuring the democratic qualities that the Constitution approved for them. Moreover, since the National Assembly failed in its threat to scrap the local governments, it should make laws for their effective administration.