CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Accountability and transparency has been critical issue in financial

management of local government. It has been hampering the performances of the

council and has been and is still a yet problem to be solved. It could be traced to

have started during the early era of management when people are in co-operative

efforts to achieve aims which they could not achieve individually.

What is today known as local government in Nigeria has been

metamorphosed from the pre-colonial transitional system of government which

was highly localized according to the peculiarities of the areas. The local council

or native authority presents the basic unit through which any nation administers her

people of the grass-roots level. The theory of local government therefore is that

there must be an administrative agency through which the central government

governs the people in their respective homes.

All over the world the structure; the form and the functions of the local

government are determined by the political beliefs of the people who control the

central government. The local unit usually operated under a council which may

consist of persons elected through democratic process by the local inhabitants or

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through persons appointed by the government to run the affairs of the local

inhabitants.

Starting from the early 1950s there have been lots of re-examination of the

institution of local government in Nigeria. There have been a large amount of

military decrees legislature and judicial activities and finally reforms from

committee‟s recommendations. Meanwhile the most remarkable of all these in the

1979 local government reforms made the Nigerian local government states. Local

government is the government at the grassroots that is nearest to the local

populace. The implication of its constitutionally guaranteed governance structure

and its closeness to the people necessitate the need for accountability and

transparency in financial management and their norms in governance more

evident at this level.

But contrarily local governments in Nigeria are often seen as nurturing

grounds for barefaced corruption and near absence of accountability and

transparency in conduct of public service. Local government council however

instead of discharging their functions as development centers to the people at the

grass root acquired notoriety for corruption fiscal indiscipline and overall

irresponsibility. The lack of integrity accountability and transparency at the level

of governance definitely constitutes a heavy toll on the well-being of the people of

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local government (Agbo 2012:20).stealing embezzlement and misappropriation of

fund has become a major hobby in Nigerian local government.

Circumvention of financial and non financial issue in the Nigerian

local government has been on the increase geometrically. this issue and many

others brought the need of this research to identify the responsiveness of local

government administration to accountability and transparency in their activities

and the changes if any accountability and transparency in responsibility has

brought to the local government administration since its invention as a mode of

operation in Nigerian government.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The research work is to evaluate and investigate the problems associated

with lack of accountability and transparency in financial management of local

government council. Local government councils has been faced with the problem

of employments racketing corruption in procurement internal revenue collection

award of contracts to the wrong contractors etc.

Salaries and allowances are paid to non-existing worker as if they are

duly recruited staff of local government. Government goes on to pay this money

without a due process to ascertain this transparent nature of transaction. The

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accounting officers in this process go on in this act without adequate accountability

of its responsibility.

Overhead expenditures in the council are incurred without

documentation; documents that are not favorable to the council chairman or

officer-in-charge are destroyed to avoid persecution after services. Tender are not

observed as a process of procurement but insistently friends and family members

are not given the mandate to supply goods and provide services to the council

without tenders.

Contract award has been on man know man which could either be political

allies or financers. These contractors as a return to investment of financial support

to the council chairman either abandon or execute the contract to the extent to

which they wish in other to recoup their money invested in election of the council

chairman knowing fully well that the council chairman will not query him.

In this acts council inhabitants suffer. The federal government of Nigeria

presumes that introduction of accountability and transparency (the progress) in

government activity down to local government could put a check to these illicit

activities in financial transactions of government down to council activities.

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This research tends to access the efficacy of accountability and

transparency inventions in the local government financial and non-financial of

government down to council activities as enshrine by due process office.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions as designed to attend the objective of this work;

1) To what extent does accountability and transparency put check to the

circumvention of due process in the financial and non-financial activities of

the local government council in Nigeria?

2) To what extent has the inhabitants of local government council benefited

from the proceed of accountability and transparency in improvement of

social amenities?

3) To what has the process of accountability and transparency affect the official

and non-official financial behavioral attitudes of council staff in Nigeria?

1.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The following objectives to this research work stand to be achieved;

1) To ascertain whether accountability and transparency has put to check the

circumvention of due process in financial and non-financial activities of the

local government council in Nigeria.

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2) To ascertain whether the inhabitants of local government council have

benefited from the proceed of accountability and transparency through the

improvement of social amenities.

3) To ascertain whether the accountability and transparency have affected the

official and non-official financial behavioral attitudes of council staff in

Nigeria.

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The research work is based on the following hypotheses which are

formulated in tackling the problems in the subject.

HO: Accountability and Transparency has not put to check the circumvention of

due process in financial and non-financial activities of the local government

council in Nigeria.

H1: Accountability and Transparency has put to check the circumvention of due

process in financial and non financial activities of local government councils in

Nigeria.

HO: The inhabitants of local government council has not benefited from the

proceed of accountability and transparency in improvement of social amenities.

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H2: The inhabitants of local government council has benefited from the proceed of

accountability and transparency in improvement of social amenities.

H0: The process of accountability and transparency has not affected the official

and non-official financial behavioral attitudes of council attitudes of staff in

Nigeria.

H3: The process of accountability and transparency has affected the official and

non-official financial behavioral attitudes of council staff in Nigeria.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work will enable the researcher to establish the possible

factors causing improper accountability and transparency in financial management

in the conduct of public sector in Nigeria.

It is equally expected that the research work will help to provide solution

which will be applied in improving the stability in the public sector. This study

therefore will expose the weakness of the local government council system.

Finally the study will generally be of immense importance to the readers

on various agencies establishing by federal government in fighting corruption in

Nigeria.

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1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study as the case may be covers the nature of accountability and

transparency in financial management in the local governments with particular

reference to Bende local government area of Abia state. The study takes a holistic

approach in its research to unveil the challenges and problems hindering the proper

accountability and transparency in financial management in local government and

better ways of curbing them.

The study also looked at the basic ways of fund and revenue sources in the

local government and its disbursement.

1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In this research work there are many constraints that affect the output of

this work. One of the limitations is time frame given to this work by the school for

the writing and submission of this project work as well as academic and personal

pressure was faced.

Also it was not easy collecting information from the council area. Officers I

met did allow me access to some of their documents for security purpose.

Furthermore most of the personnel in Bende council area are not qualified

accountant and this imposed some problems in data collection. Exact is one of

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major problem in school getting it from the management or people in authority is

not easy financial limitations is another imposing a big constraint in conducting

the research work effectively; particularly in administrating of the question naira

and lack of adequate material for the study.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Is the third tier of government in Nigeria. It is

the government at the lower level that has power of control our local affairs as well

as the staff by carrying out its functions.

REVENUE: Is fund raised by the government for public purposes and

constituting of taxes licenses fines special assessment.

ALLOCATION: Is specified amount given or allocated to various local

government in the country by the federal and state government to carry out their

day to day.

MANAGEMENT: The achievement of organization and goals through an

effective and efficient utilization of human and material resources.

COUNCIL: This means an area defined to carryout government functions.

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