Former National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Akeem Ambali, has criticised the continued weakness of local government administration in Nigeria, insisting that the failure to translate the Supreme Court's judgment on financial autonomy into effective grassroots governance has undermined service delivery across the country.

Ambali said local governments remained largely ineffective despite the legal and political developments surrounding their autonomy, arguing that communities could not experience meaningful development without councils possessing the resources and institutional independence required to perform their statutory responsibilities.

He made the observations on Tuesday, during an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, where he examined the challenges confronting local administration and the responsibilities of political leaders in implementing the Supreme Court judgment.

The former NULGE president described local government as the neighbourhood level of administration, stressing that it was the closest tier of government to ordinary Nigerians and should ordinarily serve as the first point of contact for basic public services.

He argued that the continued absence of functional local councils had created a gap between government policies and the people they were intended to benefit, particularly in rural communities where access to state and federal authorities remained difficult.

Ambali acknowledged President Bola Tinubu's role in pursuing local government autonomy, recalling that the issue was among the commitments associated with his political agenda before assuming office.

“And because I commend President Tinubu, that was one of the agreements he reached before he was elected. He came in, we didn't know how he's going to go about it. We were thinking the normal route through parliamentary and what are doing. But the man took a different route and achieved what he missed.”

He further said: “Out of his love for local government, he even created LCDA. To make sure services reach and governance reach the people at the grassroots.”

He said the President had adopted a different route to achieving the objective, eventually securing a Supreme Court judgment on the financial autonomy of local governments, but questioned why the expected changes had not translated into visible improvements at the grassroots.

According to him, the judgment should not be treated as a political achievement that can be abandoned after its delivery, insisting that its implementation was essential to ensuring that local councils could independently discharge their responsibilities.

"But why Nigerians are not happy is that the issue of local government, which is the neighborhood government, that's supposed to service the grassroots to make the impact of Tinubu administration more positive, is missing in action," he said.

He maintained that the continued failure to implement the judgment had weakened the capacity of local councils to provide essential services, despite the importance of their constitutional responsibilities to communities.

Ambali insisted that the Supreme Court's decision remained binding and should guide the relationship between state governments and local councils, warning that political interests should not be allowed to undermine the legal position established by the court.

"The Supreme Court is not a final court. Its judgment are finality in itself. You can only appeal to God Almighty. Anybody that is doing something against it is liable, is criminal, and can be tried anytime, even after office," he said.

He urged Nigerians to make local government autonomy a major issue when assessing political parties and candidates ahead of the next election, arguing that citizens should demand clear commitments on how the judgment would be implemented.

He said voters should move beyond political slogans and ask candidates what they intended to do about the absence of functional local councils, particularly in communities where roads, agricultural infrastructure and basic services remained inadequate.

"So, Nigerians, what we are supposed to be asking whoever is coming, apart from the three I've mentioned, is where is our local government. Or simply put, implementation of the Supreme Court judgment," Ambali said.

The former local government administrator argued that the effectiveness of the grassroots tier should be measured by its ability to improve living conditions rather than the activities taking place within its secretariats.

“Local government has been crippled. Local government is missing in action. No matter the effort of any state government or federal government, without a functional local government, without a people-driven local government, people-centered local government, whatever they do may not have expected impact on the people.”

He also questioned the implementation of local government autonomy, saying:

“So, Nigerians, what we are supposed to be asking whoever is coming, apart from the three I've mentioned, is where is our local government. Or simply put, implementation of the Supreme Court judgment. That is it.”

He said councils should be equipped to maintain rural roads, support agricultural production, provide basic infrastructure and strengthen community-level security, noting that poor road networks often prevented farmers from transporting their produce to markets.

According to him, local governments previously possessed equipment such as graders and other machinery that enabled them to carry out routine maintenance and respond to community infrastructure needs without depending entirely on state governments.

He lamented that many communities could no longer access such basic services, leaving farmers and residents to contend with deteriorating roads and inadequate infrastructure.

"The roads are not passable. Farmers cannot bring back farm produce. Local government in the past has graders, had boilers, evacuators, has so many equipments that easily a community can afford," he said.

Ambali also questioned the management of agricultural interventions at the grassroots, alleging that resources meant for farmers were sometimes distributed through questionable arrangements that did not adequately identify genuine beneficiaries.

He argued that local governments should maintain reliable databases of farmers within their jurisdictions to ensure that agricultural support, including tractors, fertilisers and other equipment, reached people actively engaged in farming.

He further called for the revival of community policing arrangements at the local government level, insisting that councils should be empowered to respond to security concerns affecting their immediate environments.

The former NULGE president maintained that local government autonomy was not merely about the transfer of funds but also about restoring the administrative capacity required for councils to deliver services to their communities.

He said the increasing allocations reportedly accruing to local councils should translate into visible improvements in the lives of residents, questioning why communities continued to experience poor infrastructure despite the resources being allocated to the third tier of government.

"A local government that has about 200 million, for God's sake, no matter how drunk that chairman can be, he will still impact his people positively. But what is wrong with Nigeria is a local government that is missing in action," he said.

Responding to a caller who questioned the performance of local government employees and the application of key performance indicators in public administration, Ambali argued that the discussion must also consider the financial and institutional limitations facing the councils.

He said it was unreasonable to assess the performance of local government workers without examining whether they had the resources, equipment and administrative support required to perform their assigned duties.

Using the operations of Eagle FM as an example, he argued that even a functional organisation could struggle to deliver results if its management failed to provide the necessary resources, including electricity, operational funding and other basic requirements.

"If Your chairman, Kalejaye, doesn’t, enhance your work. He does not pay you, not pay your energy bills, does not fuel your generator here. Nobody will hear about Eagle fm. If you are not promoted, you'll be demoralized," he said.

He maintained that local government workers should not be judged solely by their presence or absence in council offices, explaining that many employees performed duties across hospitals, agricultural locations, community facilities and other public institutions outside the secretariat.

Ambali cited his experience as a former director of community development, recalling that his responsibilities frequently required him to visit rural settlements rather than remain in the office throughout the working day.

He mentioned communities including Iloti, Irawo, Obete, Abule Sikiru and Alabata as places he visited while carrying out his administrative responsibilities, stressing that local government work was fundamentally different from the operations of state and federal ministries.

He therefore urged residents to understand the nature of grassroots administration before concluding that workers were not performing their duties simply because they could not be found at the council secretariat.

According to him, agricultural officers, community development personnel and other local government employees were expected to work directly with residents and communities, making field activities an important part of their responsibilities.

He also recalled a period when local government administration was more active, particularly during the Babangida era, arguing that councils previously enjoyed greater independence and operated with visible community-level activities.

Ambali said local government secretariats once functioned as centres of administrative and community activities, but alleged that deliberate political interference had weakened their independence and reduced their ability to serve residents effectively.

He maintained that the current challenges were not necessarily evidence that local government administration was inherently incapable of delivering results, but reflected years of financial restrictions and interference in the functions of the councils.

"That was the time all of them were performing. When Mufu Oseni was in the government, nobody can say that because we're having full activity. Bistro was there, Baba Onabanjo was there. That was when the local government was performing optimally. But somebody deliberately decided local government should be crippled," he said.

The former NULGE president further argued that state and federal interventions could have limited impact if local governments remained unable to connect such programmes to their intended beneficiaries.

He cited the distribution of Compressed Natural Gas buses as an example, suggesting that the absence of effective grassroots administration could prevent government interventions from reaching the communities where they were expected to make an impact.

“Had it been without a functional local government, and they are giving five buses for local government, wouldn't you see it on the road? That is why I said whatever they are doing there, Tinubu has a good vision for the country. He has a good program. But how to connect the people is missing. And that is a function.”

He said the problem was not necessarily the absence of policies or programmes but the failure to establish functional administrative structures capable of implementing them at the local level.

Ambali also maintained that the President's efforts towards autonomy should be assessed alongside the actual state of local administration, noting that the ultimate objective should be to ensure that citizens experience the benefits of government policies.

He expressed sympathy for Tinubu's position on local government autonomy, saying the President should be held accountable for completing the process he had initiated rather than allowing the issue to become another political bargaining tool.

"As of today, because of local government autonomy, I have sympathy for Tinubu. That is the truth. I am a comrade, I don't lie. Because I believe, if miraculously, he wins the election, he will be held accountable for what he has started," he said.

He nevertheless maintained that the responsibility to implement the Supreme Court judgment should not depend on electoral calculations or the political interests of individual officeholders.

The former labour leader urged Nigerians to demand accountable local government administration from whoever emerges as the country's next president, insisting that meaningful national development would remain difficult without independent and functional councils.

He said the future of grassroots governance depended on political commitment, responsible administration and the willingness of authorities to allow local councils to exercise their responsibilities without unnecessary interference.

Ambali maintained that local government autonomy should ultimately be judged by improved roads, functioning public facilities, stronger agricultural support, community security and accessible services, rather than declarations of commitment or the mere existence of a court judgment.