CORRUPT PRACTICES AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOUTHERN IJAW LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA (2015-2022)

In Nigeria, about 75 percent of the populace are rural dwellers. As such, the local government system was created to bring the government closer to the people at the grassroots. Functions that are to be carried out by local government include the provision of water, electricity, health care services, rural roads, and primary schools, among others. Unfortunately, local governments have become an avenue for embezzlement, mismanagement, siphoning, and misappropriation of funds, thereby leaving the people at the grassroots to wallow in poverty and disease. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of corruption and lack of public accountability on the incidence of poverty as well as infrastructural development in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Employing the theory of postcolonial state and observation technique, we generated, from the secondary sources, quanlitative and qualitative data that were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis. The analysis of data showed that the prevalence of political corruption accounts for high incidence of poverty as well as low infrastructural development in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area. To this end, we maintained that the relevant agencies fighting corruption in Nigeria should trace and confiscate all proceeds of corruption and prosecute all those involved in corruption practices irrespective of their status.