Agora Policy with the support of the MacArthur Foundation, partnered with the Center for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity CFTPI), African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) and The Cables Newspaper to organize a policy discussion on “Local Government Reforms: A Year After Supreme Court’s ruling” in order to discuss the ruling’s outcome one year later and suggest the next steps for Nigeria’s Local Governance Reforms.
In His keynote address, the Honorable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Olawale Edun stated that the government understands the importance of an effective local administration in the country because it will stabilize the economy (boost revenue, increase productivity, improve education and job creation) and also mentioned that the local government is fundamental to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda, specifically development at the grassroots level.
Local Government Autonomy, He pointed out, is a development necessity as well as a constitutional one. He revealed that the government is actively involved in this cause and cited the “Nutrition 774 Initiative” which is a government led and community driven initiative, designed to vitalize and incentivize local action and improve food security, health and nutrition in Nigeria, also “Project 774 Local Government Connectivity” which aims to furnish local governments with dependable and cost effective internet access alongside essential resources needed to facilitate efficient public service delivery. Although direct transfers to Local Government are still being worked out, Mr Olawale Edun acknowledged that considerable reforms must be made to the current fiscal structure to ensure that Local Government Areas can receive and effectively manage their funds.
This event also included a panel session with the Center’s Executive Director as one of the panelists.
During the panel discussion, one of the questions raised was about transparency within Local Governments. In response, the Executive Director of CFTPI, Dr Umar Yakubu, highlighted the importance of transparency in Local Governance. Dr Umar Yakubu introduced the Transparency and Integrity Index (TI) as a tool for assessing how transparent local government councils are. He also added that the councils would receive training to improve understanding and for efficient performance.
Images from the Event
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