By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy & Development (FENRAD Nigeria) has called for an urgent constitutional amendment to guarantee full financial autonomy for Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the country.

The civil society organisation made the demand at the Southeast Summit on Reviving Local Governance – Citizens-Led Advocacy for Local Government Accountability and Reform, convened by the Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights in collaboration with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, at Bishop Nwaedo Pastoral Centre, Umuahia, Abia State.

FENRAD, a member of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room representing Abia State, reiterated its longstanding position that financial autonomy remains central to accountable and development-driven grassroots governance.

Speaking at the summit, Executive Director of FENRAD Nigeria, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, said the continued retention of the State–Local Government Joint Account system has weakened grassroots development and eroded accountability.

“The continued retention of the Joint Account system has significantly undermined grassroots development, weakened service delivery, and eroded accountability at the local level,” Nwafor stated.

He added, “If Nigeria is serious about inclusive development, job creation, rural infrastructure, primary healthcare, basic education, and community security, then financial autonomy for LGAs must move from rhetoric to constitutional reality.”

FENRAD specifically referenced Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which establishes the State–Local Government Joint Account, noting that it has enabled undue interference in local government finances and constrained the ability of elected councils to implement people-centred development programmes.

The organisation stressed that genuine local government autonomy must include direct allocation of funds from the Federation Account to democratically elected LGAs, strengthened fiscal transparency and mandatory public disclosure of LGA budgets and expenditures, institutional safeguards to ensure accountability to citizens rather than state-level political control, and credible, independent, and constitutionally protected local government elections.

“Local governments represent the closest tier of government to the people and should serve as engines for grassroots economic revitalisation, agricultural productivity, environmental protection, youth employment, and women’s inclusion,” Nwafor said.

He called on the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly, and other constitutional reform stakeholders to prioritise amendments that would abolish the Joint State–Local Government Account framework, guarantee direct fiscal transfers to LGAs, protect the tenure of democratically elected local councils, and strengthen institutional mechanisms for citizen participation and oversight.

FENRAD also commended CCIDESOR and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room for convening what it described as a timely and strategic dialogue aimed at restoring local governance as a pillar of democracy and sustainable development in Southeast Nigeria.

The organisation reaffirmed its commitment to sustained advocacy, civic engagement, and policy reform initiatives that promote accountable governance, environmental justice, and community-driven development across the Southeast and Nigeria.