CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The relative roles of the three tiers of government -the federal, the state, and the local government authorities (LGAs)-in public service delivery have emerged as one of the most important topics of open and vigorous debate in the new democratic climate in Nigeria Odoh, (2012). Isa and Bello (2014) opined that there have been increasing calls for intergovernmental fiscal relations to be reassessed in light of a widespread belief that although the states and LGAs are assigned primary responsibility for the delivery of basic public services, they are not equipped with adequate revenue resources to fulfill their expenditure obligations because bulk of government revenues is retained by the federal government. The discussion is overwhelmingly centred on the revenue sharing formula that allocates resources from the Federation Account amongst the three tiers of government currently 48.5 percent of the resources are transferred to the federal government, 24 percent to the state governments, and 20 percent to the LGAs. The sub-national tiers of government are now demanding that their respective shares be substantially increased Gboyega, 2011). However, there is palpable lack of studies or discussion on whether the current practice of placing local governments' statutory monthly allocations in a Joint Account largely controlled by state governments is such that a mere shift in resource allocation will achieve the desired objective of delivering better services to the majority of Nigerians (Kurfi, 2018, Ayoade, 2012). Several studies in the area of fiscal federalism have examined the causality between various pairs of economic variables. One such pair that has received a lot of attention over the years is the relationship between government spending and its tax revenues. Understanding the relationship between expenditure and revenue is important in evaluating the efficacy of government's role and how financial resources are channelled to perform those roles particularly that of socio- economic development. It should be noted however, that, most of the studies conducted have dealt generally with the correspondence between statutory functions and finances of government with the possible exception of studies by Jumare in 2018. It is pertinent to note that studies in this area at the local government level are limited despite the wide-ranging statutory responsibilities and revenue powers assigned to this important level of government. Local governments within a fiscally decentralized system make important financial decisions regarding revenue-expenditure mix for developmental objectives (Odoh, 2012). These combined dimensions have a significant impact on the reality of decentralization in its broad political and administrative sense. To Omololu (2017), how much fiscal power and responsibility local governments actually exercise depends crucially on what range of public services they finance, whether their revenues are commensurate with their responsibilities, how much real choice they have in allocating their budget to individual services and whether they can fully access their federal statutory monthly allocations from the Joint Account. Although the 1979, 1989 and 1999 Constitutions recognize the local government as a third tier of government with defined powers and assigned responsibilities, the local governments have not been accorded the status of partners in the Nigerian intergovernmental relations. Consequently, a marked limitation has been placed on this third tier of government on the extent to which they could make their presence felt in their jurisdictions by way of bringing development or providing eficient social services to the people they judicially control (Kurfi, 2018).
Statement of the Problem
The control and interference in the local government affairs by the state manifests itself, first, in the way and manner the State Joint Local Government account is being managed. Allocation deductions and interferences have been common in many states. News are rife about how some state governments virtually annexed the Joint Account to their party electioneering funds and just barely paid salaries of local government staff during this period. The problem here is that 80 to 95 percent of local governments total revenue goes into this account and so this sort of deductions brings about paucity of funds for local councils to provide social services that will directly meet the felt needs of the rural and community dwellers. Besides states refusal to pay their statutory 10 percent of internally generated revenue into the Joint Account, local governments are sometimes made to shoulder responsibilities that are not constitutionally theirs. Both the 1979 and 1999 Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria put the state government in charge of fund disbursement to local governments. The problem is that this arrangement plays into the hands of the key stakeholder which is the state government while the local governments for which the fund is meant to serve become marginalized in the decision-making regarding the allocation of these funds. The second major way by which the state control and interference in the affairs of the local government manifests itself is in the area of state government approval of local government budget. Sometimes local government councils have to wait for a long time for budget approval that is usually negative. This is the problem of fiscal federalism or intergovernmental relations in Nigeria especially as it relates to the position and powers of Nigerian local governments. Since local governments are the closest governments to the people at the grassroots in Nigeria, they are strategically located to play a pivotal role in national development. Local governments are in the best position to energize and mobilize the people and local resources to satisfy these needs. Given the poor performance of local governments in Nigeria in the period under study, one would not be wrong to submit that they did not efficiently bring government nearer to the people in their jurisdictions.
Objectives of the Study
The major objective of this study is to examine the impact of state-local government joint allocation on the administration of Oyi Local Government Area. However, other specific objectives of this work are:
1. To find out if state-local government joint account affected discharge of constitutional functions in Local government Area.
2. To determine how improper management of the State-Local government joint account caused inefficiency in Local government area administration.
3 To find out if state-local government joint account has affected provision of basic amenities in Local Government Area.
4. To determine if State-Local government Joint Account affected payment of workers salaries in Local Government Area, Anambra State.
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to guide the study:
1. How does state-local government joint account affect discharge of constitutional functions in Local government Area?
2. How did improper management of the State-Local government joint account cause administrative inefficiency in Local government area?
3. In what ways did state-local government joint account affect provision of basic amenities in Local Government Area?
4. Did State-Local government Joint Account affect payment of workers' salaries in Local Government Area, Anambra State?
Significance of the Study
This research work has both theoretical and empirical significance.
Firstly, this study is significant in that its findings and recommendations will greatly aid the National Assembly on the Review of 1999 Constitution to come up with a Constitution that will position the Nigerian Local Governments in a way for them serve as an agent of local and rural development.
Secondly, there is a dearth of serious academic inquiry into the impact of fiscal federalism particularly as it relates to State Joint Local Government Account and its effect on the capacity of local government to deliver services.
Thiraly, his work will benefit the general public in that it will bring to their knowledge factors responsible for the dismal performance of the selected council areas and local government in Nigeria.
Lastly, this research shall be a ready material for the government, students of Public administration administration, policy makers including others who engage in local government studies
Scope of the Study
The scope of the study in terms of geographical coverage is Local Government Area. In terms of content, it shall cover concept of local government administration, joint state-local government alloacation, Functionality of the joint allocation. Others include, effect of joint state-local government joint account, problems of joint account management and solutions to the problems of state-local government joint account.
Limitation of the Study
One local government representing the entire 21 local governments was used as reference study. The researcher was constrained by time and resources to limit the study to one local government area.
Beside financial constraint mentioned above, other constraints which served as limitations to the study includes inability of the researcher to access some sensitive official documents like financial records of the selected local governments. Even with the letter of introduction from the department, it was still difficult to have access to those documents.
Moreover, the non-availability financial statements state ministry of finance, the researcher made use of the documents received from local council Headquarters.
Definition of Key Terms
The definitions of some key terms used in this study and the sense in which they are used arepresented below:
»Fiscal Federalism: Fiscal federalism as used in this study means the constitutional division of functions and finances of the public sector among the federal, states and local governments in Nigeria.
»Service Delivery: The term service delivery is used throughout this work to mean the delivery of those functions assigned to the local governments by the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.
»Local Government Service Delivery Ability: Local government service delivery ability in this work means local government being able to provide adequately and qualitatively such services as good drinking water, an efficient waste disposal system, recreational facilities etc
»State Joint Local Government Account: It is also an account where the 10% of internally generated revenue of state is paid for onward distribution to all the local governments in the state.
»Local Government: The term local government as used in this work is as defined by the constitution as government at the grassroot level.
»Corruption: Corruption is the abuse of one's office or position for selfish or private benefit. This definition takes care of corruption in both public and private sectors.
Tags:
Features