THE CHALLENGES OF CORRUPTION ON SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

There is no gainsaying that service delivery in the Nigerian local government administration has suffered serious setback because of the phenomenon of corruption. No doubt, corruption has ravaged local government system in Nigeria and has denied the third tier of government any meaningful development. This paper is however, aimed at examining the effect of corruption on service delivery on local government administration in Nigeria. The paper employs the use of secondary sources of data in its analysis and thereby reveals that, the challenges pose by corruption has made the people to lose hope and confidence in the Nigerian local government system. It concludes that corruption has not only weakened service delivery of the local government administration in Nigeria, it has also conditioned the minds of the locals not to believe in the system. The paper recommends that anti-corruption agencies should zoom their search light on the Nigerian local government officials owing to the fact that the level of corruption at that level is alarming. It strongly recommends further that the federal government should ensure the autonomy of local government is granted and enforced to allow the local governments direct access to the funds meant for the development of the local areas which it is hoped will enhance service delivery in the local government system.