An Assessment of Revenue Rights and Fiscal Jurisdictions of Local Governments in Nigeria‘s Federation

The paper examines the contentious issues in Nigeria’s federalism, especially the revenue rights and fiscal jurisdictions of the local governments in the country. Thus, the paper seeks to answer the following research questions: What are the constitutionally sanctioned revenue rights and fiscal jurisdictions of the local governments in Nigeria’s federation? What are the challenges confronting the revenue rights of local governments in Nigeria? What can be done to protect the revenue rights and fiscal autonomy of local governments in Nigeria? To provide answers to the questions, the paper conducted desk research by collecting data from published articles, reports, and administrative records relating to Nigerian fiscal federalism, especially local government revenues rights and fiscal jurisdictions. The paper found that the centralised nature of fiscal intergovernmental relations gave the higher-level governments (the federal and state) undue advantage in revenue-generating power and sharing at the expense of the local governments. This not only weakened the local autonomy but also the revenue rights and fiscal jurisdictions of the local governments. To overcome this problem, the paper recommends a complete overhaul or review of the function of each level of government. Such a review should take cognizance of the respective capabilities of each level of government to perform the service assigned to it effectively. In light of the proposed realignment of functions, there will be a need to give local governments a larger share of the federation account, e.g., 35% to 40%. Furthermore, the infringement of revenue rights of local government particularly by the states should be curtailed forthwith. Consequently, the recent Supreme Court judgement on the local government's financial autonomy must be enforced.