INTERNAL CONTROL CHALLENGES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN NIGERIA: EVIDENCE FROM RIYOM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA.
Abstract
This study examines the effect of management override, political interference, and caretaker committee administration on internal control effectiveness in Riyom Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. The study is motivated by persistent governance and accountability challenges in Nigerian local governments, where internal control systems are frequently weakened by institutional and political constraints. Although internal controls are essential for transparency, resource stewardship, and service delivery, empirical evidence on how these governance-related distortions jointly affect local government effectiveness remains limited at the grassroots level. A quantitative survey design was adopted, with data collected from 62 valid respondents out of 69 distributed questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression techniques via SPSS Version 27. The findings show that management override and political interference have significant effects on internal control effectiveness, with management override emerging as the strongest predictor. In contrast, caretaker committee administration does not exert a statistically significant effect. The model explains 52.6% of the variation in internal control effectiveness (R² = 0.526), indicating substantial explanatory power. The study is anchored on Systems Theory and Contingency Theory, which jointly explain how internal coordination failures and contextual political pressures shape control outcomes. The findings conclude that weaknesses in internal control effectiveness are primarily driven by managerial and political distortions rather than administrative restructuring alone. The study recommends strengthening internal control compliance mechanisms, enhancing the independence of oversight functions, and reducing political interference to improve accountability and service delivery in local government administration.
