TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE IN NIGERIA: PROSPECTS AND CONSTRAINTS

This study focused on transparency and accountability in local government finance in Nigeria: prospects and constraints. In line with the above, three research objectives, research questions and corresponding hypotheses guided the study. The researcher used basic resources theory to analyze the subject matter. Survey research design was employed and questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were analyzed using simple percentage. The study discovered that political interference in the local government affects accountability and transparency; corruption in the local government affects accountability and transparency; and there is significant impact of poor political participation on accountability and transparency in the local governments. It was recommended that there should be a strong internal control system – in the local governments in order to check fraud and misappropriation. Annual audit both internal and external should also be conducted; interference from state government must be minimized for the local government to be effective and efficient; and all administrators in the local governments should be trained, through in service training/on the job education (that is seminar and workshop) etc., to understand the positive impact of accountability in doing their job.