There has been a persisting challenges of accountability and transparency in local government councils in Nigeria. The objective of this study has been 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. A survey research design was adopted for the study, 55 Administrative management and 30 internal auditing totalling 85 was randomly sampled and stratified among members of staffs in local government out of 108 population sample. Three research questions and hypothesis tested at 0.05 percent level of significance guided to study. Frequencies, percentages, Means and standard derivation were employed to answer the research question while Z-test statistics were used to test the hypotheses. It was discovered that the process of accountability and transparency has affected the official and non-official financial behavourial attitudes of council staffs in Nigeria. It was recommended that there should be adequate sensitization through, workshops seminars and lectures on the need for accountability and transparency in the government System.

 

Approval Page --------------------- i

Certification ------------------------ ii

Dedication  iii

Acknowledgement ----------------- iv

Abstract --- v

Table of content-------------------- vi

List of Tables----------------------- vii

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1 Background of the study. - 1

1.2 Statement of the problem.  3

1.3 Research questions. -------- 5

1.4 Objectives of the study. --- 5

1.5 Research hypotheses. ------ 6

1.6 Significance of the study. - 7

1.7 Scope of study. ------------- 8

1.8 Limitations of the study. -- 8

1.9 Definition of terms. -------- 9

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1.1 Financial management. ---- 15

2.1.2 Achieving accountability in financial management. ----------------------- 19

2.2 Structure/functions of a local government. --------------------- -------------- 24

2.2.1 Functions of a local governments. ------------------ 25

2.2.2 Financial administration profile of a local government. ------------------- 28

2.3 Auditing in the local government. -------------------- 29

2.4 Budgeting in the local government. ------------------ 30

2.5 Financial memoranda. -------- 31

2.6 Methods of local government account and the responsibilities. ------------ 31

2.7 Accounts kept by local government. ----------------- 33

2.8 Revenue collection machinery.------------------------ 35

2.9 Problems of revenue collection in local government. ------------------------ 37

2.10 An overview of the major source of fund/revenue by local governments. 40

2.11 The external source of fund/revenue by local governments. --------------- 44

2.12 Overview of government accounting. -------------- 45

2.13 Financial records. ------------ 46

2.14 Functions of the head of service: the treasurer and legislative arm of local government. ------------------------ 47

2.15 Control measures adopted by the local government council. -------------- 48

2.16 Measures for fighting corruption in local government. --------------------- 52

CHAPTER THREE 

3.0  RESEACH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 

3.1 Research methodology. ------ 55

3.2 Research design. -------------- 55

3.3 Population of the study. ------ 55

3.4 Sample design and techniques. ------------------------ 56

3.5 Source of data collection. ---- 56

3.5.1 Primary source of data. ---- 56

3.5.2 Secondary source of data. - 57

3.6 Instrument for data collection. ------------------------ 57

3.7 Validity and reliability of measuring instrument. --- 57

3.8 Method of data analysis. ----- 60

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0  DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Presentation and analysis of data. --------------------- 62

4.2 Test of hypotheses. ----------- 76

4.2.1 Hypothesis one. ------------- 76

4.2.2 Hypothesis two. ------------- 81

4.2.3 Hypothesis three. ----------- 87

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of findings. -------- 94

5.2 Conclusion --------------------- 95

5.3 Recommendations ------------ 96

5.4 Suggestion for further study.  97

Bibliography 98

Appendix I 100

Appendix II 101

 

TABLE 4.1: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionaire

TABLE 4.2: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionaires

TABLE 4.3: The Responses and percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionaire.

TABLE 4.4: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionaire.

TABLE 4.5 : The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.6: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.7: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.8: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.9: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.10: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.11: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.12: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.13: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.14: The Responses and Percentages of Responses from Respondents to Questionnaire.

TABLE 4.15: Mean computation of Administrative management Responses o test the hypothesis

TABLE 4.16. Computation of standard derivation of Administrative management Responses to test the hypothesis

TABLE 4.17: Mean Computation of Internal Auditing

TABLE 4.18: Computation of standard derivation of internal auditing Responses to test the hypothesis.

TABLE 4.19 : Mean computation of Administrative management Responses to test the Hypothesis

TABLE 4.20: Computation of standard derivation of Administrative management Responses to test the  Hypothesis.

TABLE: 4.21: Mean computation of internal Auditing Responses to test the hypothesis.

TABLE 4.22: Computation of standard derivation of internal auditing Responses to test the hypothesis

TABLE 4.23:Mean computation of internal Auditing Responses to test the hypothesis.

TABLE 4.24: Computation of standard derivation of Administrative management Responses to test the hypothesis.

TABLE 4.25:Mean computation of internal Auditing Responses to test the hypothesis.

TABLE 4.26:Mean computation of standard derivation of internal Auditing Responses to test the hypotheses

4.3 TABULATION OF RESULT

HYPOTHESIS ONE

HYPOTHESIS  TWO

HYPOTHESIS THREE

 

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 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 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.