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Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations in Nigeria: 1999- 2025

Emmanuel Chinedu MacAlex-Achinulo, Ph.D, Simeon C. Wokoma, JP

Abstract

The study was focused on federalism and intergovernmental relations in Nigeria; 1999 to 2025. Nigeria’s unitary mode of governance in the federation remains the problem of the study. The objectives were to; examine the origin of federalism and intergovernmental relations in Nigeria; evaluate the impact of the union to the development of Nigeria and evaluate the level of intergovernmental relations among the tiers of government in Nigeria and their problems. The theoretical framework adopted was Game Theory by John von Neumann and Oscar Morgenstern (1944). Federalism remains a system of government that share authoritative powers of governance between different levels of government (Safire, 1978). While intergovernmental relations refer to relative independent operation within Constitutional defined spheres of competence in a coordinated sovereign structure with each other (Bello- Iman, 1996). The method of study was the secondary method, and data were sourced from published papers and internet. Method of analysis was content analysis. Findings revealed that Nigeria does not practice true federalism rather, involve in a unitary mode of governance. Therefore, the study recommended the ideal practice of federalism in Nigeria, among others. The study’s contribution to knowledge was the clarification that Nigerian federalism is practicing unitary system of governance in the federation, instead of union of the component states that should control their resources and contribute certain percentage to the center, as to foster development and strength of the federation, respectively. Again, no empirical study has evaluated federalism and intergovernmental relations in Nigeria within this scope (1999- 2025). Key Words: Federalism, Intergovernmental relations, Government and Politics.

Keywords

FederalismIntergovernmental relationsGovernment and Politics.

References

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