By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Hope is rising for a well conducted Local Government Areas election in Nigeria as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that with relevant legislative empowerment it can handle the conduct of elections at the grassroots if asked to do so.
INEC Executive Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu gave this assurance on Thursday when he appeared before the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters ahead of the preparations for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.
According to him, INEC has the capacity to handle the local government elections, adding however that such engagement would only be possible pending the amendment of relevant sections of the law to enable it perform the role.
In what seemed a proof of INEC’s capacity for the task, Yakubu pointed out that the Commission had been conducting area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which has been devoid of the problems associated with the conduct of local government elections.
He listed some advantages of INEC handling elections to include that there are regular elections as when due, stability of tenure, and also that there has never been a caretaker committee in the FCT.
He noted that there has never been a time one political party has won all the seats at the elections as is common in the states.
He said if INEC handles the election, it would be better for democracy, stressing that this can only happen if the constitution is amended to take the responsibility from state electoral commissions.
Yakubu’s assurance comes on the heels of a Bill seeking to establish a federal agency for the conduct of local government elections on Thursday, July18, scaling first reading in the Senate.
The Bill titled, “Local Government Independent Electoral Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2024” was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, (APC – Niger East).
The Bill, if enacted to law seeks to take the council elections from the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), that have increasingly come under criticism for the opacity in its activities.
The Supreme Court, through its landmark judgement on Thursday, July 11, 2024, granted financial autonomy to the local government areas.
The Court in its judgement, declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations. The court further declared that a state government has no power to appoint a caretaker committee, stressing that a local government council is only recognisable with a democratically elected government. READ ALSO:
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The seven-man panel, in the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
The apex court held that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government, the Federal, the State and the Local government. It ruled that state governments are perpetuating a dangerous trend by refusing to allow democratically elected local government councils to function, instead appointing their loyalists who can only be removed by them.
“A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,” the court said.
