E-Governance Implementation Challenges in Local Government: Evidence from Nassarawa Local Government Area, Nassarawa State

This study examines the challenges confronting e-governance implementation in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Nassarawa State, North Central Nigeria. E-governance adoption promises to transform local government service delivery by improving efficiency, reducing corruption, and expanding citizen access to government information and services. However, implementation in rural and semi-urban local government areas faces formidable barriers including power supply unreliability, low digital literacy among staff and citizens, inadequate ICT infrastructure, and institutional resistance to technology-driven change. Using a professional research design, data is gathered from 85 respondents including local government ICT staff, department heads, service users, and Nassarawa State Ministry of Information and Communication Technology officials through structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. The Technology Acceptance Model and the E-Government Diffusion Framework provide the theoretical basis. Secondary data includes National Information Technology Development Agency publications, Nassarawa State ICT policy documents, and recent academic literature on e-governance in Nigerian local governments. Descriptive statistics and barrier analysis methods are employed. Findings are expected to identify unreliable power supply, inadequate broadband connectivity, and insufficient staff training as the most critical implementation barriers. The study proposes an e-governance implementation roadmap for Nassarawa Local Government Area, prioritizing solar power backup for council offices, staff digital literacy training, and phased rollout of e-payment systems for council levies. Keywords: E-governance, implementation challenges, local government, Nassarawa State, digital transformation.