LOCAL GOVERNEMENT ADVANCES AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN KEBBI STATE

Abstract

Local government advances is about the revenue and expenditure decisions of local governments. This paper addresses issues around advances at the local level and the issue of poverty alleviation. These issues were examined within the context of the social norms which has already had a significant impact on local government finances. Against this background, the paper employs the cross sectional survey method to effectively analyse the issues around local government finance as well as a range of analytical approaches for the economic and financial analysis of investment projects implemented by local governments under conditions of uncertainty. Data were obtained directly from a local community in Birnin Kebbi and evaluated for relevance to the research questions, resulting in a final sample of n=170 responses. The study concluded that the key principals and elements of local government finance that aid in poverty alleviation includes fiscal decentralisation, revenue management, and capital investment planning. Base on the forgoing, the study recommended that local government in a bid to alleviate poverty must apply economic and financial analysis to investment projects relevant to local governments and incorporate uncertainty and probability in decision analysis