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Many studies that have attempted to address the problem of poor performance of local governments in Nigeria offer various reasons including the issue of lack of democracy and autonomy. Yet constitutionalisation of local government or the so called third tier status of local government is meant to at least solve the problem of democracy and autonomy. Extant studies have largely failed to probe why state governments persistently failed to respect constitutional provisions on local government autonomy. This study therefore investigates the reason for the divergence between constitutionalisation of local government and the actual practice. The research finds that the constitutionalisation of local government in Nigeria masks the subtle contest for control of the local government system by the federal and state governments. In other words, the major reason that determines the actual practice of local government in Nigeria has to do with the centripetal federal and centrifugal state forces in the ongoing process of defining the Nigerian federalism. The objective of the study is to show that the unwillingness of most state governments to adhere to the constitutional provisions on establishing democratically elected, freestanding Councils is a fundamental problem about defining Nigeria’s federalism. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3s1p383

Federalism, Constitutionalism, and Local Government Autonomy in Nigeria