Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has reaffirmed the necessity for reform of the local government system, especially elections, nationwide in light of his remarks regarding the low caliber of elections in local government councils.
At the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review’s National Dialogue on Local Government and Constitution Amendment, the Speaker, represented by his deputy Benjamin Kalu, said that the recent local elections, in which the ruling party won every seat, not only compromised democracy itself but also raised grave questions about the reliability and efficiency of local governance systems.
Mr. Abbas bemoaned the fact that municipal governments have devolved into pawns in the hands of godfathers who control political results for their own benefit or into mere extensions of state governments.
He asserts that elections marked by a lack of competition are not only embarrassing, but also seriously jeopardize our democracy. As a result, “unwanted elements infiltrate the councils, often lacking the capacity and vision necessary to govern effectively.” He said that the current unbalanced electoral system is a disgrace to democratic ideals and called for immediate correction of the anomaly.
He mostly agrees with the previous remarks made by Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who characterized local government elections as little more than the coronation of the candidates of the ruling party.
Prof. Mahmood held state governors accountable for the dysfunctionality, inefficiency, and ineffectiveness of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs). He charged that the governors had neglected to give SIECs the infrastructure, equipment, resources, and assistance they needed to operate freely and independently.
Elections for local governments guarantee that voters can choose their representatives and give them a say in local governance. This explains why the Constitution assigns state governments the sole duty of holding legitimate local council elections and ensures a democratized local government system.
Unfortunately, the federating units have been a complete failure in this area because their method of selecting political leaders at the grassroots level cannot be accurately described as an election.
According to the course of events, it is as certain as day after night that the ruling party or the party of the state’s current governor will win every local council electoral seat. Instead of reflecting the desire of the people, the entire process has become predictable, undemocratic, unbalanced, dubious, and a mirror of state governors’ whims.
Since Nigeria’s electoral and election processes have been flawed, poor elections are not exclusive to local council elections. Over the years, there has been a lot of dispute around the nation’s election integrity—or lack thereof.
The outcome of any general election held after independence has not been widely accepted. Experts have questioned if INEC has the moral authority to criticize another electoral body in light of its startling track record of contentious elections. Similarly, can those who gain from judicialized elections throw stones?
Even if INEC’s elections are frequently marred by claims of irregularities, the commission’s performance seems more reasonable than SIECs’. What happens at the local government level is, at most, the selection, coronation, or imposition of the ruling party’s preferred candidates; it has no electoral complexion.
Additionally, INEC continuously works to enhance the country’s voting process; one recent example is the implementation of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS). However, to the detriment of common people, SIECs have become non-functional because to the restrictions placed on them by State Emperors.
Credible elections at the council level are a national problem because the people suffer when electoral standards are dropped below the absolute minimum.
Therefore, the chaotic elections being held by SIECs have legitimate grounds for INEC to be concerned. The state bears full responsibility for the operation of a functional local council. Governors have regrettably declined to establish robust local government structures for their states in order to further their political agendas.
Their persistent interference in municipal elections has prevented their people from having adequate representation at the lowest level of governance. This behavior threatens the management of the local government.
To strengthen the electoral system in this situation, state administrations should restrict their meddling in SIEC activities. To reduce the fraud that comes with the analog process, it is advised that municipal elections be digitalized.
In the 2018 and 2021 local government elections, Kaduna State effectively implemented Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) under the direction of Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The e-voting process was praised by voters as flawless, quick, transparent, and flawless. Ironically, the state’s current administration has gone back to using the antiquated manual approach. What a step back!
The federal government has shown interest in building direct ties with local government councils on several occasions in recent years. In this case, the Supreme Court deprived states of their financial authority over funding allocated to local governments. A bill to create a Local Government Independent Electoral Commission is currently in the Senate.
The planned organization will take the place of SIECs and oversee elections for all local governments nationwide. Therefore, states must immediately reform and improve their local government election systems if they are committed to keeping exclusive authority over the management and administration of local government councils.
State governments must return electoral authority to the people and respect their right to choose their local leaders. In a similar vein, they ought to give SIECs more authority and get them in a position to independently hold fair and credible elections. As they say, “The serpent will bite when the hedge is broken.”
It is crucial that the states take charge of their own destiny and effectively use their constitutional authority over local governments, even though President Bola Tinubu has refuted any idea that the federal government would try to usurp state authority over local governments or take advantage of state governments’ mistakes to establish direct ties with LGCs. Only then can they prevent Nigeria’s federalism from suffering a significant blow.