INTERNALLY GENERATED REVENUE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN UMUNNEOCHI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ABIA STATE, 2007-2015

Abstract

The debilitating political and other impacts of the abuse of internally generated revenues (IGRs) of Local Governments in Nigeria have been one of the most crucial challenges in Nigeria. The perpetual inability of local governments to tap into available resource base through improving their internally generated revenues in their jurisdiction, and the maintenance and management of IGR is due to the fact that the sub-national fiscal management is generally poor in Nigeria. While the extant literature has focused on the economic ramification, little attention seems to be paid on the political implication of this rampant abuse of the IGR, especially for the democratization process in the local government system in Nigeria. Hence this study examined the state of IGR in Abia State, using the Umunneochi Local Government Area as the focus of analysis. The analysis is anchored on Structural Functionalism. Qualitative data were generated using documentary method and these were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis. The study revealed that the bulk of IGR within the study period came from a single revenue head, in spite of the abundance of other sources from which revenues could be harnessed. The study noticed that there is extreme economic poverty and degradation of the political process, a complete breakdown of governance at the grassroots, a total loss of confidence in the democratic process, and an unwritten dictatorship of single parties that intimidate the people, under the direction of state government that illegally oust the status and powers of the third tier of government. The study recommends that, all the revenue items should be harnessed, and documented. Also there should be checks and balances in the local government system, and the Auditor General should timely visit to monitor the systems effectiveness.