Local government financial autonomy in Nigeria: The State Joint Local Government Account

Abstract

This paper addresses the statutory financial relations and financial autonomy of local government in Nigeria, and the freedom of local government to generate revenue from its assigned sources without external interference. It focuses particularly on a financial instrument called the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) and how its operations have positively or negatively affected the financial autonomy of local government councils and the inter-relations between state and local government in Nigeria.