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By Jude Chinedu
A professor of Public Administration at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Frederick Odo Eze, has proposed a new formula for sharing monthly allocations to local governments in Nigeria.
He recommended that 60 per cent of the funds should be devoted to capital projects, while the remaining 40 per cent would cover salaries and administrative expenses.
Under the proposed arrangement, which he calls the ‘Eze Model,’ funds earmarked for development projects would be managed through a proposed Federal Grants Board for Local Governments in Nigeria to prevent diversion, curb corruption and ensure that public resources translate into tangible benefits for rural communities.
He unveiled the proposal while delivering ESUT’s 60th inaugural lecture, titled “Beyond the autonomy question, local government resource allocation and utilisation in Nigeria: Changing the narrative.”
He argued that financial autonomy for local governments, though necessary, would not automatically translate into improved service delivery without a mechanism to ensure that allocations were properly utilised.
He said the existing debate over local government autonomy should go beyond who controls council funds to address how the money is spent and what Nigerians get in return.
“The model provides a ring-fence and fire-wall around the federal statutory allocation to local governments in Nigeria. It will reduce to the barest minimum, the quantity of free-floating funds susceptible to incidences of grand corruption in the local government system,” he said.
Under the proposal, only 40 per cent of the monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) would be transferred directly to the local government councils for salaries and overheads, while the remaining 60 per cent would be reserved for approved capital projects.
The professor proposed amendments to relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution and other laws to establish the Federal Grants Board, which would operate under an Act of the National Assembly, with its headquarters in Abuja and zonal and state offices across the country.
He explained that the proposed board would not take away the councils’ responsibility for identifying their development needs; rather, it would provide a funding and oversight mechanism to ensure that money allocated for approved projects was spent for its intended purpose.
To achieve this, he proposed a bottom-up approach to project selection through an annual programme, tagged ‘Visit Every Community (VEC).’
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Under the programme, local government officials would visit communities to identify their most pressing needs, while community leaders would nominate five priority projects each. The councils would then consider the proposals and forward qualifying projects to the grants board for funding, subject to available resources.
The projects would cover primary healthcare centres, schools, roads, bridges, culverts, water supply facilities, solar-powered electricity, markets, erosion control, refuse disposal facilities and skills development centres.
He said the arrangement would ensure that grassroots development was driven by the actual needs of communities rather than decisions made solely by political office holders.
On accountability, he recommended regular project supervision, competitive bidding through local government tender boards and a prohibition on diverting funds allocated to approved projects without the board’s authorisation.
He also proposed that funding should be discontinued for projects that failed to meet their stipulated completion timelines, while insisting that projects should be distributed equitably among the communities within each local government area.
The professor projected that sustained implementation of the model over 10 years would significantly improve access to basic infrastructure, raise living standards and reduce rural-urban migration.
“The injection of 60 per cent of the FAAC allocation of local government funds into capital projects will create millions of jobs nationwide, bringing relief to the deluge of jobless youths in Nigeria,” he said.
He added that improved access to primary healthcare and education would help reduce maternal and infant mortality, as well as the number of out-of-school children.
Drawing lessons from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), he argued that a similar grant-based funding arrangement could help address infrastructure deficits at the grassroots.
He maintained that the state governments did not necessarily have to wait for a constitutional amendment before introducing reforms to improve local government spending.
According to him, states could amend their local government laws to strengthen State Joint Local Government Account Committees and incorporate relevant professional bodies and oversight institutions into the process.
The proposed model, he argued, would make local government allocations more responsive to the needs of ordinary Nigerians by placing greater emphasis on measurable development projects, transparent spending and accountability.
