Perceived Citizens’ Reaction Over Local Governments’ Financial Mismanagement in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Citizens hide grudges they bore against those in power because of the consequences of their anticipated actions if displayed. The citizens are aware of the Federal and State governments’ monthly allocations to the Local Government Areas (LGA) but they are not seeing the use of those funds. The opinion poll research surveyed the grievant actions the citizens would take when monies meant for their LGAs are misappropriated or embezzled. Thirteen of the 27 local governments of Imo State were used, and 50% of the adult population was proportionally selected for the survey. Questionnaire was used to survey the opinion of 1840 citizens. Data was analysed using simple statistic, tables and figures. The citizens expressed many dangerous and harmful actions they would take against the leaders; among them are killing them, and not voting for them in the next election. The paper recommends monitoring teams from the Federal and State governments to ensure the use of allocated funds for the development of the LGAs.

Key Words: Infrastructural provision, Local government administrators, Funds mismanagement, Poverty, Citizens.