Financial Management in Local Government: The Nigeria Experience

As a creature of the constitution, it is the statutory responsibility of local government as the third tier of government to cater for the people at the grass root level which forms the preponderant majority of the teaming population of the whole country. It is a universally acknowledged that no meaningful economic planning and development can be made without finance. Determining the key roles of finance managers and processes of financial management is central to better fiscal outcomes. This paper examined financial management systems in the local governments in Nigeria. It primarily evaluated the roles, powers and challenges of the treasury department of local government in Nigeria. It revealed that lack of adequate technical capacity and constitutional loopholes associated with the creation of the state and local government joint accounts are the key factors affecting efficient financial management in the local government. The paper recommends that financial autonomy and improved technical capacity of treasury department of local government would promote sound financial management in the local government.