Guest Column
Local Government Autonomy: Nigeria’s Missing Weapon Against Insecurity and Banditry
Local Government Autonomy: Nigeria’s Missing Weapon Against Insecurity and Banditry
By Aishatu Kabu
Following my recent article titled Cashless Policy: Our Most Underused Weapon Against Banditry, I am impressed by the debate it generated. Many people argue that the policy alone is not enough to end banditry. I agree with them; my post does not claim the policy will fully address banditry, but it will weaken the value chain.
Nigeria’s security issues are complex, which is why the government has always preached a non-kinetic approach as an alternative even when the majority are in disagreement with the government.
Perhaps one of the issues government should ponder and reflect upon is local government autonomy, because the average Nigerian believes that insecurity is a governance failure. But is insecurity a governance failure? Yes, and here is why:
Local government in Nigeria is practically non-existent today. A tier constitutionally designed to be autonomous has been reduced to an appendage of state governors, making essential basic amenities difficult to reach the grassroots.
In Nigeria, a ward councillor in the early 4th Republic had more room to deliver than most LG chairmen do today. They could fix a borehole or grade a road without waiting months for Government House approval. When last did you witness your local government chairman executing a township road network, constructing healthcare facilities, or building dispensaries or schools? If the answer is no, then are Nigerian LGs independent institutions, or just conduits for states to spend public funds without accountability?
Nigerians first celebrated Federal High Court rulings under President Buhari declaring joint accounts illegal. The victory was sealed on July 11, 2024, when the Supreme Court in Attorney General of the Federation v. Attorney General of Abia State & 35 Others ordered that the 774 LGs must receive allocations directly from the Federation Account, declaring state control of LG funds unconstitutional.
This struggle is not new. Since 1999, civil society, labour unions, and LG chairmen have fought to free the third tier from state capture. Every president from Obasanjo to Jonathan to Buhari promised “true autonomy” but left office with the joint account system intact. The July 2024 judgement is only the latest chapter in a decades-long battle to make the Constitution’s promise of LG autonomy real.
But have LGs become autonomous to date? Look at how they operate in your state. Are they free from interference and micromanagement? The answer is no. What do you think could have been the issue?
In my opinion, court judgements are not enough. If we want lasting peace in Nigeria, we must institutionalise autonomy. Local governments must be empowered to take charge of their administration and deliver good governance, being the closest to the people tier of government. The core problem is simple: as long as governors control LG elections through State Independent Electoral Commissions, LG chairmen will remain loyal to Government House, not to the Constitution or their people.
If the federal government cannot take over LG elections due to constitutional limits, then President Tinubu must use political will differently. He should partner directly with civil society and grassroots Nigerians.
He can create a “Nigeria Participatory Democracy Fund” to empower CSOs like Yiaga Africa, ActionAid Nigeria, Connected Development, and BudgIT to train 100 young citizens per LG area to track LG funds and projects. That’s 77,400 citizen monitors nationwide.
This matters because accountability at the LG level is almost zero. Yet LGs received ₦4.1 trillion in FAAC allocations between Jan 2023 and Dec 2024, according to NEITI and BudgIT data. But communities see little benefit from it. Banditry thrives, insecurity continues to remain a sustainable business model, citizens live in fear, vulnerability increases, and poverty becomes a normalised way of life. If local governments were allowed to use their resources judiciously, ₦4.1 trillion in FAAC allocation in two years is enough to address some basic community problems today. Even smaller things like addressing out-of-school children that merely have to do with the community are not addressed by local government. They are waiting for the state to provide them directives on what to do and how to do it. Where is the autonomy in this?
Some may argue that local government administrators aren’t angels. They are products of the same political systems that produced governors; therefore, even when they receive autonomy, nothing will change. But wait, autonomy can be accompanied by transparency, citizen oversight, and stronger financial management systems to ensure resources translate into better services.
This argument is not to attack anyone. For Nigeria to work and address insecurity, LGs must control and spend their resources for their people. That will reduce poverty, create jobs, and address the insecurity that thrives where government is absent. Banditry is a local problem that requires a local solution, just as terrorism cannot be defeated from Abuja while it operates in forests. States also can’t fix grassroots issues and problems.
Autonomous LGs can fund vigilantes, fix feeder roads, and light up villages in weeks because they have only their local government to think for, not the entire state. When power and money reach the grassroots, communities gain the capacity to protect themselves instead of waiting for rescue and direction from the governor on what to do and how to do it. Governors don’t understand community issues better than the local government chairman.
Local government autonomy is not merely a constitutional issue; it is a development imperative. If Nigeria is serious about addressing insecurity, reducing poverty, improving basic services, and strengthening democracy, power and resources must genuinely reach the grassroots.
Until we fix LG autonomy to address governance failures, every other policy remains treating symptoms while the disease kills our communities.
Aishatu Kabu
writes from Maiduguri,
Borno State.
