A new report has revealed that 751 of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas (LGAs) are performing poorly in fiscal transparency, accountability, and governance, posing a high risk of corruption and inefficiency at the grassroots level.
The report, titled Nigerian Local Government Integrity Index (NLGII), was released by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI). It provides the first comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of governance standards and corruption risks across all LGAs in the country.
According to the findings, about 85 percent of Nigeria’s LGAs fall within the “very high” or “critical” corruption risk categories, reflecting widespread opacity, weak enforcement of financial rules, and poor service delivery.
The report highlights systemic failures at the local level, where governance structures are either captured by state governments or vulnerable to criminal infiltration. It warns that unless urgent reforms are undertaken, corruption at the grassroots could continue to erode development gains and deepen poverty.
Based on eight governance pillars — including fiscal transparency, access to information, anti-corruption enforcement, civic oversight, digital infrastructure, and public service delivery — each LGA was assessed and ranked from “low” to “critical” risk.
The findings show that 155 LGAs (20%) are in the “critical risk” category, 503 (65%) in “very high risk,” 93 (12%) in “high risk,” 19 (2.5%) in “moderate risk,” and only four LGAs (0.5%) recorded “low risk.”
Examples of the worst-performing councils include Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa, Ohaji/Egbema in Imo, and Magu in Niger State.
The report recommends that these areas be placed under mandatory EFCC and ICPC monitoring, with quarterly audits and security protection for local officials to ensure they receive federal allocations directly.
States such as Oyo, Ogun, Edo, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Benue recorded widespread corruption risks across all their LGAs, while a few bright spots like Ikeja in Lagos, Dutse in Jigawa, Keffi in Nasarawa, and Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) were rated “moderate risk” for showing commitment to proactive transparency and open governance. Mm
Only Nasarawa LGA in Nasarawa State and a handful of others in Kaduna and Jigawa achieved “low risk” status, serving as benchmarks for accountable governance.
Speaking on the findings, the Executive Director of CeFTPI, Dr. Umar Yakubu, described the report as a wake-up call for government at all levels. He said the index offers a framework to identify where interventions are most needed and how councils can improve governance outcomes.
“This is the first nationwide corruption and governance risk assessment of local councils,” he noted.
“What the index has done is to identify those areas where reforms are urgently required so that local governments can effectively deliver essential services to the people.”
Yakubu stressed that transparency in Nigeria is strongest at the federal level, weaker at the state level, and weakest at the local government level, adding that reforms must focus on closing this gap through capacity building, digital governance tools, and better oversight.
He also urged the EFCC, ICPC, and Code of Conduct Bureau to prioritise oversight in Tier 4 and Tier 5 LGAs, where corruption and insecurity risks are most severe.
Reacting to the report, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), commended CeFTPI for the initiative and pledged that the Commission would study the findings closely.
He said the ICPC would integrate key recommendations from the report into its Accountability and Corruption Prevention in Local Governments (ACCP-LG) programme to strengthen institutional frameworks at the grassroots.
“The Commission will review the findings thoroughly and determine how to fuse the innovative ideas highlighted into our ACCP-LG initiative,” Dr. Aliyu said.
“Our goal is to strengthen local government systems to ensure they deliver effective and impactful services to the people.”
The Nigerian Local Government Integrity Index ultimately calls for a renewed focus on fiscal discipline, transparency, and citizen engagement at the grassroots, warning that Nigeria’s broader anti-corruption efforts will falter unless local councils — the closest tier of government to the people — are reformed and held accountable.
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