REVENUE ALLOCATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE DELIVERY: A STUDY OF DUKKU LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF GOMBE STATE

The Nigerian constitution provided for funding of Local Governments from three main sources: Allocation from the Federation Account, the 10% proportion of the monthly state Government internally generated revenue and the internally Generated revenue of the Local Government, yet the Local Governments continue to record setbacks towards the development of the grassroots. This ugly trend is usually associated with certain factors like overdependence on the statutory allocations from the Federation Account, corruption, mismanagement of resources as well as diversion of funds. There has been agitation that the Federal allocation is inadequate to meet the needs of local governments and allegations thatthe Constitution has given state governments powers over the council areas by interfering with local government funds thereby undermining their financial autonomy. The study aimed at investigating the nexus between the volume of revenue allocated to Dukku Local Governmentof Gombe State through statutory grants and its capacity for sustained service delivery. The adopted theory is Efficiency Service Theory which posits that the responsibility of local government is to efficiently carryout local duties allocated to it at the highest efficiency ratewith good and adequate financial management. Data for the study were generated from both primary and secondary sources and their contents were analyzed using the frequency table, percentages and Chi-Square test. Documentary source and interviews from respondents wereused for further analysis in the presentation of data. The findings reveal that the volume of revenue collected is not adequate to meet the needs of the council. The study recommends among others that alternative means of revenue generation should be provided and actualizedas well to avoid over dependence on the statutory allocation which will in turn make localgovernment self-reliant