The difference between representative government and responsible governments depends on the nature of the legislature and the relationship between it and the executive. If the legislature is elected by the people, the system of government is representative and this is the ordinary system in all democracies, except in one-party states. In one party states where there is only one officially-recognized political party, there is no real choice between candidates and programmes.

The decision by the federal government to reform the local government system in the country in 1976 did not really come as a surprise. Before then, the local councils had little bearing on the lives of the local people as there was little to write home about their performance.