Democracy, Local Government and Development in Nigeria: Case of Ekiti State

There is a renewed interest on emphasis for revival of local democracy around the world. This is contingent on the strategic position occupied by the local government as a tool for effective governance and development. Thus, the constitution provided for a democratically elected local government councilors and chairmen to bring about the expected development. However, of recent, true democracy at the local government has been replaced with the practice of appointing caretaker committees appointed by the Governor. This practice is usually rubber stamped through stagemanaged elections usually conducted by the chief executive to achieve their personal objectives. The study considers democracy at the local government level of Ekiti State with a view to assessing its practice and attendants effects on development. It employs both primary, interview with key informants, and secondary data to interrogate democracy and the performance at the local level. This study discovers that local governments have performed below expectation and that genuine democracy is needed at the local government level to bring about the much desired development longe