DevReporting’s investigative documentary, ‘LG Billions in the Dark’, has renewed calls for accountable, adequately funded and citizen-responsive local governments, with speakers urging Nigerians to take greater interest in how public resources are managed at the grassroots.

The documentary examines the lingering local government leadership crisis in Osun State, its implications for public finance and the management of council allocations, and how political interference undermines service delivery and the development of local communities.

At the screening held on Thursday, 29 October, at the Faculty of Arts Theatre, University of Lagos (UNILAG), human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana; the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Folasade Ogunsola, a professor of medical microbiology; and other speakers stressed the need for local governments to operate independently and transparently to deliver essential services and drive community development.

The documentary was produced with support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy through the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).

The event brought together legal practitioners, public officials, governance experts, academics, development practitioners and media practitioners to examine the challenges confronting local government administration in Nigeria and the role of citizens in demanding accountability. Students from various faculties at UNILAG also attended the screening.

In his keynote address, titled ‘Accountability, Resources and Citizen Voices: Building Local Governments that Work for the People’, Mr Falana argued that Nigeria’s development challenges could not be addressed by concentrating accountability demands on the federal government while neglecting state and local authorities.

He maintained that local governments, as the tier of government closest to citizens, should be empowered to address everyday development needs, including primary healthcare, basic education, infrastructure and economic opportunities.

Local government autonomy must translate into accountability – Falana

Mr Falana criticised state governments for undermining local government autonomy through political interference, withholding council allocations and replacing democratically elected administrations with caretaker committees.

Referring to the July 2024 Supreme Court judgment affirming local government financial autonomy, he said some state governments had continued to disregard the ruling, weakening the constitutional status of councils and their capacity to deliver services.

“Despite the landmark judgment, some state governments have continued to disregard the court’s decisions, undermining the constitutional status of local governments,” he said.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also questioned the whereabouts of substantial allocations accruing to local governments, arguing that the absence of visible development in many communities raised concerns about the utilisation of public funds.

He urged citizens to demand explanations from their local councils and state governments, insisting that accountability should not stop at the federal level.

Mr Falana further identified the conduct of local government elections as a major challenge to grassroots democracy, alleging that state independent electoral commissions often produced outcomes favouring ruling parties.

He said the failure to conduct credible elections had contributed to public apathy towards local government administration and weakened democratic participation.

Beyond financial autonomy, the SAN called for greater government investment in compulsory basic education, farmers and local economic activities, arguing that local government resources should improve livelihoods and address social inequalities.

He also urged Osun residents to demand transparency in the management of the state’s mineral resources, particularly gold, expressing concern that mining activities could degrade the environment without delivering corresponding benefits to host communities.

Translating development policies into practical interventions

Earlier in her opening remark, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Folasade Ogunsola, said the effectiveness of local governments would significantly determine the quality of life in Nigerian communities, particularly as urbanisation continues to place pressure on existing infrastructure.

She identified poor roads, inadequate drainage, waste management challenges, unsafe markets and limited access to basic amenities as everyday problems requiring effective local government administration.

Mrs Ogunsola explained that local governments were strategically positioned to translate development policies into practical interventions because of their understanding of community needs, vulnerable populations and the challenges facing neighbourhoods.

She warned that cities across Nigeria were expanding faster than the infrastructure, institutions and resources available to support their growing populations, making competent and adequately funded local administrations increasingly important.

“The future of Africa, and indeed Nigeria, will be shaped in significant measure by the future of its cities, and the future of our cities will depend on whether we build local governments that are competent, adequately resourced, accountable, and responsive to their citizens,” she said.

Strengthening democratic accountability through journalism – Olorunyomi

The Chairman of the occasion and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Dapo Olorunyomi, called on journalists to place accountability at the centre of their reporting, describing the quality of journalism as closely connected to the strength of democratic institutions.

Mr Olorunyomi, who is also the publisher of Premium Times, said the state of journalism across sectors such as education, sports and business could provide important insights into the challenges confronting those sectors.

He urged journalists to interrogate public institutions, ask critical questions and expose shortcomings that affect citizens, stressing that responsible reporting remained essential to national development.

“If our democracy is suffering, we do not have to look too far to understand why. We should examine the state of journalism in the country,” he said.

He noted that although journalism remained a fundamental pillar of democratic accountability, the media faced significant challenges in effectively carrying out this responsibility.

Grassroots leadership and management of public funds

The documentary screening also featured a panel discussion on local government administration, with participants examining the responsibilities of council leaders, the management of public allocations and the need to strengthen accountability at the grassroots.

The panellists included the Executive Chairman of Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area, Moyosore Adebanjo; former Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo; legal counsel, Jiti Ogunye Chambers, Comfort Idika-Ogunye; Head of Tracka at BudgIT, Joshua Osiyemi; and a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Lagos, Vera Amaechi. Azeezat Olaoluwa, West Africa Correspondent, Deutsche Welle, moderated the session.

Speaking from his experience in local government administration, Mr Adedayo emphasised the importance of the grassroots tier of government in driving development, describing it as the level of government best positioned to directly affect people’s lives.

He also shared insights from his administration on the use of local government allocations, drawing attention to the relationship between available resources, leadership decisions and development outcomes.

The discussion provided an opportunity to examine the issues raised by the documentary from the perspectives of elected officials, former council administrators, budget accountability advocates and academics.

DevReporting launches foundation to strengthen development reporting

The event also featured the official unveiling of the Development Reporting Africa Foundation (DRAF) and a fundraising initiative to support the foundation’s public-interest development reporting work.

During the unveiling, the Editor-in-Chief/Team Lead of DevReporting, Mojeed Alabi, described DRAF as a nonprofit initiative established to strengthen development reporting, generate and communicate evidence, promote public engagement, and advance accountability on issues affecting communities across Africa.

The event also featured the unveiling of the foundation’s Executive Director, chairperson and members of the advisory board. They are: Programme Manager and Associate Editor at DevReporting, Samson Ademola, as Executive Director; UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, chairperson of the advisory board; Olanrewaju Fagbohun, a professor, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), co-chair; Blessing Ahmed, Managing Partner at Blue Diamond Law Firm, member; Oluwole Alabi, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Ulster Hospital, as a member; Theophilus Abbah, Director of Daily Trust Foundation, member; and Bolaji Abimbola, Managing Director/CEO of Integrated Indigo Limited, member.

The chief launcher, Abubakar Isa, an engineer and chairman of Spectrum Engineering Limited was represented by the former Director of Public Affairs, National Universities Commission (NUC), Ibrahim Yakasai.

Some of the other personalities who graced the occasion included Ramon Bello, a professor and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos; Rasheed Arogundade, a professor and former President of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria; Gboyega Akosile, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, head of the Ransome-Kuti family and founder of the Nigerian Network of Non-Governmental Organisations; Olufemi Salako, a pastor and former Manager at Chevron Nigeria Limited; and Temilade Sesan, Lagos City Manager of the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), among many others.