Governance across federal, state, and local levels in Nigeria, has become subordinate to politics. A recent governance perception survey conducted across six geopolitical zones revealed a pervasive consensus: Nigeria is experiencing a dangerous inversion where politics no longer serves governance; governance serves politics.
This distortion is visible in decision-making, budgeting, appointments, and service delivery. From performative legislation to oppressive executive actions, the real victims are ordinary Nigerians left without basic services in a country flush with allocations.
The Presidency: Personal Power Over Institution
The Nigerian Presidency has increasingly become a megaphone for political power projection rather than a seat for institutional reform. Presidential media engagements focus more on political alliances, opposition takedowns, or personal vindications than on concrete governance metrics.
Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the politicisation has deepened. His frequent overseas trips and delegation sizes have raised questions of priority. For example, his government reversed Nigeria’s national anthem in May 2024, an expensive, controversial move widely viewed as symbolic politicking with little developmental value.
More critically, his economic agenda; while branded as “bold reforms,” has so far imposed harsh conditions on Nigerians without corresponding relief structures. Political appointments have largely been rewards for loyalists, not merit-based selections aimed at solving sectoral challenges.
State Governments: Governors as Political Monarchs
State governors have weaponised executive powers to reinforce personal political brands. Recent startling example from Niger State underscores this trend, Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago shutdown operations at the Badeggi FM Radio, claiming that it incited violence. He went further, directing security forces to seal the station, revoke its license, profile its owner, and even mark the building for demolition.
This was done without any process less to talk of due, bypassing the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission. The Nigerian Guild of Editors, NBA, NUJ, and NHRC condemned the move as unconstitutional censorship and a threat to democracy. It revealed how governors suppress dissent and centralise control, not through governance, but coercion.
Across the board, governors enjoy unbridled control of security votes, contract awards, and local government finances—without accountability. Few states conduct meaningful town halls or citizen consultations. Political patronage remains the driver of appointments, even for technocratic roles.
The National Assembly: A Subdued Legislature
The National Assembly, designed to provide checks and balances, has often acted as an extension of the presidency or individual party interests. Legislative independence has given way to a disturbing pattern of rubber-stamping executive decisions.
One of the most glaring examples came in July 2024 with the passage of the Police Act Amendment Bill. This bill, which extended the Inspector General of Police’s tenure beyond the statutory retirement age, was rushed through both chambers in under a month. Critics described the legislation as a tailor-made effort to retain President Tinubu’s preferred police chief, Kayode Egbetokun, raising alarms about politicising security leadership and weakening institutional autonomy.
Similarly, Tinubu’s four major tax reform bills was swiftly passed between October and November 2024. Clear objections from northern governors and fiscal policy experts who warned that, the bills disproportionately favoured southern states, the Senate accelerated their readings and approvals. Public hearings were hurried, and dissenting voices were suppressed in what critics described as a show of party loyalty over national consensus.
During the 2025 budget cycle, the National Assembly again prioritised the president’s agenda over fiscal scrutiny. With over N47.9 trillion proposed and massive debt servicing allocations, the budget received expedited consideration. Key committees were instructed to fast-track deliberations, and media reports noted minimal resistance to questionable line items.
These developments paint a legislature increasingly reluctant to challenge the executive—reducing its role to a procedural partner in enacting the presidency’s wishes.
Senate Leadership’s Gaffe and Culture of Patronage
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, inadvertently underscored this problem in a now-viral gaffe during a plenary session in 2023. While attempting to adjourn proceedings, he let slip that “a token has been sent to our various accounts by the clerk,” before quickly trying to rephrase it as “the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes.”
Though quickly brushed aside, the moment sparked public outrage. It epitomised the culture of patronage that now characterises Senate operations, a chamber many Nigerians increasingly view as disconnected from their realities, yet responsive to internal political choreography.
LGAs: Ghost Administrations with Real Budgets
The governance survey found that over 75% of respondents had not seen any LGA chairman visit their ward in the last year, nor could they point to a specific LGA project in their area. The local government structure has become the biggest absentee in the governance equation, present in budgeting, absent in delivery.
Between 2015 and 2024, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed over ₦20 trillion to local governments. Yet, public services at that level remain abysmal—from waste management to primary education and healthcare. According to BudgIT’s 2024 subnational transparency index, fewer than 30% of LGAs publish annual budgets or financial statements.
A key reason is that most state governors either delay or deny LGAs direct access to their funds. Caretaker committees, often filled with loyalists, replace elected council officials, robbing citizens of real representation and service delivery. Even President Tinubu, during his time as Lagos governor, was known to have battled the federal government over withheld LGA funds, only for his party successors to adopt similar suppressive tactics.
Who Governs Nigeria?
With the presidency captured by political calculation, governors acting as monarchs, lawmakers staging theatrics, and local governments erased from development processes, governance in Nigeria has no real centre.
A few exceptions exist. President Obasanjo once enforced debt relief-linked reforms despite opposition. Governor Akpabio (in Akwa Ibom) at his peak invested heavily in infrastructure, often beyond partisan interests. One of Peter Obi’s campaign message during the 2023 presidential session, on departing from politics and embracing governance, stood out because that kind of messaging is disappearing within Nigerian political space.
As Governor of Anambra state, his administration was governance-first styled, credited widely, for presiding over one of the most fiscally conservative administrations in the nation. His strict physical policy and lean government, led to huge savings, which was use to finance increased funding for education and health-care. He was focused on long-term strategic planning rather than political patronage, which endeared him to both civil society and the international community.
But these examples are rare. The prevailing system rewards “politicking over planning,” sidelining visionaries in favour of power brokers. Public service becomes a casualty in the relentless pursuit of political advantage.
Price of Political Capture
The consequences are visible for all to see: 10.5 million out-of-school children, recurring trade dispute with workers, astronomical cost oof living, unemployment, infrastructure decay, and worsening trust in democracy. Governance must reclaim its primacy over politics, or Nigeria risks becoming a state where public institutions merely oil political ambitions.
Real reform would mean:
- Devolving power with checks
- Legislators voting independently
- Local governments being truly autonomous
- Citizens demanding performance, not propaganda
Until then, Nigeria’s development will remain hostage to its politics
