Kwande

Kwande
LGA
Country	Nigeria
State	Benue State
Local Government Headquarter	Adikpo
Time zone	WAT (UTC+1)

Kwande is a Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Adikpo.

It has an area of 2,891 km² and a population of 248,697 at the 2006 Census.is bordered by several other LGAs. On the west, it is bordered by Vandeikya Local Government, Ushongo LGA on the north, and Katsina-Ala LGA on the northwest. On the south, it is bordered by Cross River State and in the southeast by the Republic of Cameroon. Kwande LGA also shares a common border with Takum LGA of Taraba State on the east. It has fifteen council wards but sixteen traditional districts.

As a result of its mountainous nature and proximity to the Cameroonian range of mountains, Kwande Local Government usually has cold weather which makes it very conducive to traders and investors. The local government also has very big rivers which usually take care of agricultural and industrial needs.

Kwande LGA was created out of the erstwhile Katsina Ala Division on February 3, 1976 as a result of the nationwide Local Government Reforms of 1976 which was undertaken by the then military government of General Murtala Muhammed as part of its intention to return power to civilians, and a precursor to active comprehensive political action. The reform was also designed to spread government programmes to the grassroots and to institutionalize the local government system in Nigeria. The reform resulted in the creation of 301 local governments across the country of varying populations between 150,000- 800,000. Prior to the 1976 reform, the local government system in the country was less autonomous with the colonial era Native Authorities serving as an avenue of policy implementation directed from Lagos. Towards independence, a system of elected councils was created but after independence the power of the system was minimal.

The postal code of the area is 982002.^[1]

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