By Abdullahi Alhassan, Kaduna
June 18, 2025
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu, has raised concerns over the appointment of incompetent individuals into local government leadership, blaming it for the growing cases of corruption and inefficiency at the grassroots level.
Speaking during a one-day dialogue on local government autonomy in Abuja, organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Dr Aliyu said the failure to ensure capable leadership has continued to undermine development in local areas.
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He also blamed flawed electoral processes for the rot in the system. “Often, electoral processes are inadequately prepared to deliver free, fair and credible elections. These challenges have significantly undermined efficiency and created opportunities for corrupt practices to flourish in local administration,” he said.
According to him, investigations by the ICPC have revealed instances where public funds meant for local government elections were diverted for personal gain, calling the situation a threat to accountability and transparency.
To address the problem, Aliyu said the ICPC has partnered with the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity to launch the Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments (ACCP-LG). The initiative focuses on improving fiscal transparency, human resources, procurement processes, citizen engagement, and corruption control.
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He called on stakeholders, particularly legal professionals, to respect the Supreme Court’s recent judgment affirming local government autonomy and warned against attempts to subvert the ruling through unnecessary legal challenges.
Also speaking, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, decried the misuse of Joint State-Local Government Accounts (JAAC), which he said had become a major conduit for misappropriating public funds.
He said, “Without transparency in the management of JAAC, the idea of local government autonomy will remain an illusion.”
Rafsanjani called for urgent legal, institutional and electoral reforms to ensure political, administrative and fiscal independence for local governments, stressing that restoring trust at the grassroots is critical to national development.
“No tier of government is closer to the people than the local government. When it fails, the entire governance system loses legitimacy,” he added.
