Fiscal Federalism and Resource Control under Nigerian Constitution: The Need for Amendment

Abstract

Federalism is a system of government where by governmental powers are shared between the central government and component units. Fiscal federalism represents to constitutional division of revenue and economic control among levels of government. It also mirrors the amount of fiscal autonomy and responsibility accorded to sub-national government/states/local governments. This article, therefore, examines fiscal federalism under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and how its improvement and implementation would contribute in solving most of the economic and security challenges bedeviling the country. The paper revealed that Nigeria has not operated as a true federation since it adopted a federal constitution. Fiscal responsibility and taxing powers still remain considerably, centralized. The practice of fiscal federalism in Nigeria has been inhibited by several factors which include the dominance of the federal government in the revenue sharing and over-reliance on the revenue from the Federation Account. The article finds that there is the need to amend the constitution to accord fiscal autonomy to component units for economic growth and peaceful co-existence.