UTILIZATION OF REVENUE ALLOCATION IN EGOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to investigate the challenges and prospects of utilization of revenue allocation in Egor Local Government Council in Edo State. A descriptive survey design was used and multistage sampling procedure was used to select 500 respondents for this study, consisting of 15 staff of Egor LGA secretariat, 5 political office holders in the LGA, and 480 residents of the study area. A structured questionnaire was used as the research instrument. Data collected were analyzed using simple count, frequency, percentages. Findings of this study was able to basically identify and specify the challenges of the utilization of Local government revenue in the study area. Through these findings, it was discovered that these challenges included lack of autonomy, corruption, poor revenue generation, poor level of community involvement and ineffective financial control and management. These challenges resonate with previous research findings in similar studies by other authors. More findings identified the factors that influence successful utilization of revenue allocation in the study area which included political stability, community involvement, transparency, strategic planning and availability of qualified personnel. Further findings of this study was also able to reveal the recommendations of the respondents about the prospects and measures to address these challenges. These recommendations included implementation of policies for stricter financial controls, adopting technology-based accounting systems, promoting community involvement in decision-making, advocating for local government autonomy, and improving the skills of financial personnel. Keywords: Revenue allocation; Revenue; Utilization; Financial control and management; Local government autonomy