Intergovernmental relations in Nigeria: improving service delivery in core sectors

Freinkman, Lev (2007): Intergovernmental relations in Nigeria: improving service delivery in core sectors. Published in: (2007)

Abstract

According to the Nigerian constitution, main public sector responsibilities are split across various government levels. Thus, no sole government could deliver radical improvements in service delivery on its own, which means that coordination and cooperation are pre-requisites. However, the existing mechanisms and institutions for inter-governmental policy coordination are weak and need strengthening. This paper suggests the following priority directions for reforming inter-governmental financing arrangements in Nigeria: a. more attention to the equity dimension of revenue sharing b. strengthening government accountability for utilization of public money in general, and for use of a common pool of funds such as the Federation Account in particular, and c. introduction of specific grant schemes directly linked to expansion of sub-national government financing in key sectors

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Nigeria, Fiscal federalism, Policy coordination, Horizontal inequality, conditional grants
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H77 - Intergovernmental Relations ; Federalism ; Secession; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O55 - Africa; N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation > N47 - Africa ; Oceania; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H75 - State and Local Government: Health ; Education ; Welfare ; Public Pensions; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H72 - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

References

Broadway, Robin. “Grants in a Federal Economy: A Conceptual Perspective.” In Broadway and Shah (2007, Eds.), pp. 55-74.

Broadway, Robin and Anwar Shah (Eds.) Intergovernmental fiscal Transfers. Principles and Practice. (World Bank. Washington, DC, 2007)

Collier, Paul. Africa: Geography and Growth. (Oxford University. August, 2006)

Development of a Strategic Framework for the Financing of Local Governments in Tanzania. (Georgia State University. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. June, 2005)

Improving Intergovernmental Collaboration and Coordination in National Service Delivery Process. SLGP. Consultants’ Report No. 184. Abuja. May, 2005.

McCarten, William J. “The Challenge of Fiscal Discipline in the Indian States”. In Jonathan A. Rodden and Gunnar S. Eskeland (Eds.) Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints. (MIT Press, 2003) pp. 249-286

Rao, M. Govinda. “Fiscal Decentralization in Indian Federalism”. In Ahmad, Ehtisham and Vito Tanzi (Eds.). Managing Fiscal Decentralization. Routledge: (London and NY, 2002). pp 286-305.

Rao, M. Govinda. 2002b. “Poverty Alleviation under Fiscal Decentralization”. In Rao, M. Govinda. (Ed). Development, Poverty and Fiscal Policy. Decentralization of Institutions. (Oxford University Press: New Delhi, 2002) Chapter 14, 278-298.

Sato, Motohiro. 2007. “The Political Economy of Interregional Grants”. In Broadway and Shah (2007, Eds.), pp. 173-202.

Shah, Anwar. “Comparative Reflections on Emerging Challenges in Fiscal Federalism”. In Blindenbacher, Raoul and Abigail Ostien Karos (Eds.) Dialogue on the Practice of Fiscal Federalism: Comparative Perspectives. Vol. 4. Forum of Federations: (Ottawa, 2006), pp. 40-45.

Shah, Anwar. “A Practitioner’s Guide to Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers”. In Broadway and Shah (2007, Eds.), pp. 1-54.

UNDP. 2006. Niger Delta Human Development Report. Abuja.

Vigneault, Marianne. “Grants and Soft Budget Constraints”. In Broadway and Shah (2007, Eds.), pp. 133-173.

World Bank. 2003. The Capacity of the Nigerian Government to Deliver Basic Education Services.

World Bank. 2004. Fiscal Federalism in Russia: Progress and Challenges. July.

World Bank. 2006. Nigeria: Realigning Health Sector Development. Draft Report. September.

World Bank. 2007. Nigeria: A Fiscal Agenda for Change. PEMFAR