Devolution of Powers, Local Governance And Two Years of ‘Renewed Hope’

By Armsfree Ajanaku

As the jury continues interrogating the outcomes of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s two years in office, the debate has given scant attention to the key issues of federalism, power devolution and the trajectory of governance in Local Government Areas (LGAs). Tinubu has for long carved a niche as politician who favours devolution of powers, and grassroots democracy. As governor of Lagos State, he was not averse to picking up a fight with federal authorities over the question of expanding grassroots governance by creating additional local government administrative structures. That deft move to tweak the administrative structures at the local level in Lagos put Tinubu at loggerheads with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It led to the seizure of allocations due to Councils in Lagos. It took the intervention of Obasanjo’s successor, the rule of law centric, Umaru Musa Yar’Ádua, for the withheld allocations to be released to Lagos State.

In the light of this battle-hardened credentials due to his political activism for the expansion of grassroots governance, President Tinubu apparently sounded plausible when he dished out a slew of promises relating to the quest for a strengthened system of local governance. As would be gleaned from pages 68-69 of the Renewed Hope Agenda, the President reckoned that Nigeria currently runs a lopsided governance structure. Tinubu’s diagnosis makes the point that one of the manifestations of the imbalance in the current governance structure is that: “too much power and resources have been lodged at the federal level.” To effectively address this structural flaw, which hobbles the delivery of governance to the grassroots, the Renewed Hope strategy stressed the need for States and LGAs to be closer to the people. Therefore, the President declared that his administration will rebalance the responsibilities and authorities of the different tiers of government.

This act of rebalancing was anchored on collaborating with the National Assembly and State Governments to amend Nigeria’s national governance architecture such that States are afforded the autonomy and resources needed to better serve the people. The scrutiny of how well these lofty ideals of federalism, devolution of power and federalism have fared in two years of Tinubu would be critical in resetting governance processes. A sizable number of interlocutors of Nigeria’s democracy and its political structures have for long agonized about the unwieldy and over-centralized character of the polity. The bogus federal structure, it has been argued, has planted its knee on the necks of the other tiers of governance, making them incapable of meeting the aspirations of citizens. Part of the diagnosis is that states also appear in a hurry to emulate the over-centralization, massive bureaucracy and resource sapping projects, which have minimal impact.

So, how has the President fared in the efforts towards the realization of this objective of devolving power to the other tiers of government? What seemed a bright and promising start took the shape of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi heading to the Supreme Court to get a definite legal verdict on financial autonomy and the mandatory conduct of elections at the level of local governments councils. In terms of revamping governance and bringing it closer to the grassroots, this move was decisive in the context of how it presented the issues at the apex court for interpretation. Essentially, the verdict of the Supreme Court made it apparent that democratic elections at the LGA level could no longer be put in abeyance by the States. The consequential judicial verdict put a resounding stamp of illegality and nullity on the appointment of Caretaker Committees or other interim structures at the LGA levels. The landmark verdict of the apex court equally caused a scramble among states, which moved to conduct elections in LGAs.

Although the elections conducted to restore democracy in the LGAs have so far been characterized by the same flaws, which undermined Nigerian elections in the last two decades, the consolation is that the process of learning the ropes at the local level is underway. The anomaly of ruling parties winning just every Chairmanship and Councillorship position notwithstanding, there is some dose of optimism that the electoral process at the LGA level will eventually be cleaned up. When this happens, it should pave the way for people power at the grassroots. The optimists in this respect are also quick to point out that effective democratic decision making and accountability at the grassroots level will impact on governance outcomes, especially in terms of basic services like healthcare, education and cottage infrastructure to serve the developmental aspirations in rural and underserved areas. In addition to the efforts to consolidate democratic processes at the LGA level, the fundamental question of financial autonomy for LGAs has also been on the front burner. Leveraging the key portions of the Supreme Court judgment, which seriously frowned at states depriving LGAs of their federal allocations, the Tinubu administration has been firm in ensuring allocations go directly to the LGAs. In December 2024, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) started finalizing direct disbursement of allocations in batches directly to LGAs. As of April 2025, LGA share of FAAC allocation was N406.63 billion.

However, despite the efforts of the Tinubu administration to ensure funding gets directly to the LGAs, there remain several stumbling blocks. The State governors have been identified as the biggest threat to the realization of financial autonomy for LGAs. In spite of the judgment of the apex court, several state governors have been on record making moves to ensure LGAs do not have the freedom and latitude to administer their allocations. Using Anambra State as example, a law was passed mandating LGAs to remit a portion of their allocation to the State. In Edo State, Governor Monday Okpebholo undermined the position of the Supreme Court by suspending elected LGA Chairmen for declining to present their financial records for review. Consequently, the Federal Government has also indirectly legitimised the subjugation of LGA autonomy with some of its political steps, which border on interference. In Rivers State, the declaration of a state of emergency, which removed the democratically-elected structures of governance apparently comes from the playbook of what most governors are doing in their states, wherein they arbitrarily dissolve elected LGA administrations.

Subsequently, a fundamental issue at the core of LGA administrative and financial autonomy therefore remains whether President Tinubu is standing on sound moral and legal foundation, if he treats a state with similar arbitrariness, which governors have used against LGAs over the years. Notwithstanding the encouraging start towards LGA autonomy as a sine qua non for activating and driving grassroots governance, the Tinubu administration somehow lost its way. Like it is with revolutions, which carry within them the seeds of their own destruction, the push for impactful governance at the grassroots has been undermined resistance and contradictions. Nonetheless, there remains a great opportunity for the Tinubu administration to get back on the wheel and drive the reforms to enhance governance at the grassroots. The first step to do this is to address concerns that the chief reformer himself is guilty as the power grabbing and interfering state governors. As such the incongruous situation in Rivers requires a speedy resolution and return to democratic order.

Next is the need to invoke the instrumentality of the judicial process to checkmate state governors who remain bent on controlling LGA funds. The initiation of contempt proceedings against them in court is a step in the right direction. Importantly, the President needs to create the framework for robust partnership with credible and vibrant civil society groups to follow the money and monitor governance in the LGAs. It will be a great disservice to the long suffering and underserved communities of Nigeria, if LGA officials receive the trillions of Naira in allocations, but those quanta of funds make no impact on the lives of Nigerians at the grassroots level.

Armsfree Ajanaku is Executive Director of the Abuja-based Grassroots Center for Rights & Civic Orientation.