Abstract
The 1976 Local Government Reforms in Nigeria marked a watershed in the annals of local government. It brought with it uniformity which put an end to the regionalisation of local government before 1976. It was meant to make local government occupy its rightful position in local governance, thus it was enshrined in the 1979 constitution of the country. Inspite of the constitutional provisions in the 1999 constitution for existence, functions and autonomy of local government on one hand, the same constitution subsumed local government under the state government. That is why there is a raging debate over the status of local government in Nigeria. This among others necessitated this work. The paper justifies the need for local government. It stated the statutory functions of local government as provided for in the 1999 constitution. The paper assessed local government since 1999 till date. It relied on secondary source of data. It concluded by making some recommendations.