Hadiza Balarabe seeks clearer roles, stronger accountability in Nigeria’s LG system

Hadiza Balarabe, the deputy governor of Kaduna, says Nigeria’s local governments need to be modernised to clarify roles and eliminate duplication and inefficiencies. 

Speaking on Thursday at the first international conference of the department of public administration at Kaduna State University, Balarabe said genuine democracy rests on the competence, legitimacy and integrity of governance at the grassroots.

“They must address the structural design of local governance and the autonomy and accountability mechanisms needed to improve service delivery,” the deputy governor said.

She noted that the theme of the conference, “Rethinking local government administration: Policy reforms, institutional capacity and public financial management for sustainable development”, is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s reforms.

According to her, the conference was not just an academic engagement but a strategic platform for dialogue, reflection, and action on the future of governance.

Balarabe added that the country’s governance system cannot perform optimally except government at the local level are well structured, resourced, transparent, and effective.

She stated that the state under Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, has led ambitious governance reforms towards a responsive public service.

“Our commitment has always been to build a public service that is responsive, service-orientated, people-centred, and future-ready,” she said.

“From public financial management to digital ecosystems, from fiscal transparency to human capital investment, from strengthening local governance systems to fostering accountability, our state has consistently demonstrated that reform is not only possible—it is necessary.”

Abdullahi Musa, vice-chancellor of Kaduna State University, said the institution has gotten a rigorous competitive grant of N1 billion from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for commercial agriculture.

This, he said, is due to the business-like model which the school adopted.

“In addition, our university has a robust and functional infrastructure, including a social enterprise culture, which made it secure the grant,’’ he added.