Title: Public Accountability and the Social Contract in Local Government Administration in Taraba State, Nigeria.
Authors:Gamboro Bitrus Adi, Joseph Manga, Dangana Nuhu
Volume: 10
Issue: 5
Pages: 258-266
Publication Date: 2026/05/28
Abstract:
local government is regarded as government at the grassroots level of administration meant for meeting peculiar grassroots needs of the people it's the government that is closer to the masses which needs to be effective to protect the yearning and aspirations of the people. Despite the existing internal and external mechanisms put in place to enhance accountability at the local government level in Nigeria, there is loud public outcry on the gross mismanagement of public funds in the local government system in Nigeria. The primary Objectives of this research work is to investigate the level of public accountability and compliance with the social contract by the Local Government Chairmen in Taraba State. The study adopted Social contract theory as its theoretical Frame work. Multi-Stage Sampling Techniques was used to select three local government Areas while purposive sampling techniques was used to identify the respondent and oral interview was used and the data was analyse using content analysis. Major findings include Local Government faces challenges of funding, corruption, lack of public accountability, inability to keep to agreement by Local government chairmen in Taraba state and in activeness of EFCC and ICPC in checking local government. The study further recommended reawakening of the EFCC and ICPC on corruption and lack of accountability in Local government system as well as need for Local Government chairmen in Taraba State to utilise the internally generated revenue in bringing physical development in rural areas.