An Assessment of Power Relations Between State and Local Governments in Kwara State: The Prospect and Way Forward

Abstract

The expectation of the people from any level of government is to receive service delivery but this is not realized as expected due the distance government at the center cum the state brought about the establishment of the local governments and to ensure quality service delivery at the local government in Nigeria, there is need for inter-tier relations between the state and the local governments. However, the local government failed in the area of the quality healthcare service delivery which is the main focus of the work over the years. Consequently, the study examined the impact of power relations between the state and local government as regard to the policy issue of joint account and project on healthcare service delivery in the three selected local governments of Kwara State. The methodology adopted was both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study found out that the power relations between the state and local governments on the issue of joint account and project majorly the provision of healthcare facilities like buildings, drugs and laboratory equipment were responsible for the inability of the local government to perform to the expectation of the people in the state. The study however suggests that there is need to amend the constitution of the federal republic in order to promote first-line-charge of statutory allocation directly to the account of the local governments.