LG Autonomy: Why local councils must breathe

The recent council poll in Osun State brought up the absurdities that go on in the local government system in Nigeria. No sooner that Osun State Independent Electoral Commission than concerned citizens renewed their calls for direly needed reforms at the third tier of governance. In this report, SEYE OLUMIDE, LEO SOBECHI, OLUWOLE IGE and TIMOTHY AGBOR examine how state governors continue to hold the Local Councils hostage and undermine the bold attempts to infuse democracy and improvement in local government administration.

• State Governors’ Chokehold Is Undermining FG’s Efforts

Since June 2024, when the Supreme Court ruled that Local Councils should conduct their affairs with some level of independence, especially fiscal autonomy, state chief executives have continued to make themselves into cogs in the wheel of progress.

The President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had at different fora informed the 36 state governors of the need to allow the 774 councils pursue grassroots development, particularly, in the areas of agribusiness and food production and economic empowerment of the people.

The President also repeated his appeal to the governors earlier this year, when the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdurazak, led members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to pay him New Year homage in Ikoyi, Lagos.

While reminding the governors that their leadership at the subnational level was central to achieving food security, economic prosperity and rapid national growth, President Tinubu assured them: “You control your local governments. You can restore hope by effectively fulfilling what the people expect at the grassroots level.

“There was gossip that we had disagreements on local government autonomy. No, just drive development at the local government. Nobody wants to take them away from you, but we need collaboration. Let’s do it together and ensure Nigeria is better off for it.”

However, despite those assurances, state governors have refused to allow oxygen to flow in the local government system. Investigations revealed that the governors see the local councils as a vehicle for electoral conquest rather than fulcrum of development.

President Tinubu-led administration’s efforts to ensure that local governments enjoy total autonomy have been met with systemic frustration by the governors, who see local governments as mere appendages of the state.

Nigerians welcomed the Supreme Court ruling on the autonomy of the local councils, because they believe that the massive corruption at that level of government could be eradicated. Further, it is expected that local government autonomy would free up funds to pursue economic development, especially in the areas of agriculture and provision of primary healthcare.

A frontline advocate of local government reforms, Rep Sam Ifeanyi Onuigbo, told The Guardian that state governors were the ones holding the local councils captive.

He stated: “Recall that under President Muhammadu Buhari, Executive Order 10 was passed to allow the local governments to administer their finances. The Governors Forum took the then President to court. As such, the autonomy was never implemented until President Buhari left office.

“Again, under President Tinubu, the Supreme Court had given a judgment to provide or secure, guarantee the independence, financial autonomy of the local government, what did we get in return?

“You now see governors conducting midnight elections or sudden elections and then winning 30 over 30. So, in fact, we even have two states, where the governors now move through the State House of Assembly to pass laws so as to make the State House of Assembly ask the Local Governments to remit their resources to the state government.”

Onuigbo maintained that these things support the concern of the citizens and the belief that the state governors have not allowed local government councils to function independently.
Debilitating Instances Of Governors’ Direct Control

Penultimate week, precisely on February 22, 2025, a local government poll held in Osun State at the behest of the state chief executive, Ademola Adeleke. The governor and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) went ahead with the hurried election despite the fact of a controversial but subsisting Court of Appeal judgement.

Based on the judicial pronouncement, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, sued for caution and urged the Osun State government to shelve the exercise. But, discountenancing the AGF’s intervention as a distraction from the government’s desire to take full control of the entire council system, OSIEC went ahead with the poll and returned all the 30 local councils in favour of the ruling PDP.

The major opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which faulted the process, boycotted the process in protest. Prior to the Osun council polls, the APC pointed at the Court of Appeal judgment in Akure on February 10, which reinstated the local government chairmen and councillors, elected on the platform of the party in 2022. That was after former state governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, lost his re-election bid.

Apart from the Osun example, the winner-takes-it-all syndrome, which had been a major decimal in local government polls conducted by State Electoral Commissions (SIECs) is a national occurrence.

To keen observers of local government council governance and politics, the victory of Local Government Autonomy Bill via a Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, ushered in hope that finally, the third tier of governance has been freed from the shackles of state governments in terms of management of Federation Account allocations.

From the APC administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, which conducted council polls in January 2018, to the incumbent PDP-led government of Senator Ademola Adeleke, which organised the controversial council poll recently, it has always been the ruling party ‘winning’ the local government elections by 100 per cent.

Findings indicate that the council’s poll conducted by Aregbesola’s government in 2018 was boycotted by the Labour Party, the Accord Party, while three other parties contested against the candidates of the then ruling APC, in some of the wards.

But, defying the feeble challenge from the few opposition party candidates, the APC flag bearers carried the day by winning in all the 30 local governments.

The election was held in 71 out of the 332 wards in the state. There was no voting in the remaining wards because the candidates of the ruling APC were returned unopposed in accordance with the provisions of Section 41 of the Electoral Act (2011) as amended.

Also, the local government poll conducted by the immediate past governor of Osun and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, in 2022 after he lost his re-election bid followed the same pattern as the candidates of the APC cleared all the 30 local government areas in one fell sweep.

While many attributed this syndrome to the ruling party’s desperation to always have firm grip of the political structure at the local level, investigation by The Guardian indicated that as long as the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) continue to superintend council polls, the shackles of imposed candidates by the ruling party will not abate.

Similar scenario played out in Osun State. About two weeks into the exercise, OSSIEC had announced its full readiness to conduct the poll. The commission embarked on awareness campaigns through the media, sensitising members of the public on the need to participate in the exercise.

Few days before the election, the OSSIEC chairman, Hashim Abioye, assembled all leaders of political parties in the state, National Orientation Agency, Youth Council of Nigeria at the commission’s headquarters in Osogbo. He displayed voting materials including ballot boxes, cubicles, and ballot papers for the stakeholders to see.

The commission had also trained its permanent and ad-hoc staff ahead of the election with the support of a faith-based organisation, Justice and Peace Makers Centre, Osogbo, ahead of the poll. Stakeholders passed a vote of confidence on the commission’s leadership and commended its level of preparedness.

The chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council in the state, Victor Akande, had during the meeting, disclosed that all the 18 political parties in the state would be participating in the exercise.

Other stakeholders including religious leaders and civil society organisations hailed OSSIEC’s planning and urged residents who are 18 and above to troop out and exercise their franchise.

Speaking during the display of sensitive election materials, Abioye said the commission was determined to conduct a transparent, credible, peaceful and acceptable election.

However, things began to get awry two days to the poll after the AGF and Minister of Justice, Fagbemi (SAN), and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, warned the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke and the state electoral commission against proceeding with the exercise.

Rattled by the development, Abioye and other officials of OSSIEC deserted the headquarters leaving the media practitioners and some observer groups that wanted to collect accredited tags and aprons for the monitoring of the election stranded.

The Guardian gathered that the commission relocated its operations to the State Government House to avoid possible arrest by some security operatives allegedly sent by the IGP, Egbetokun, after he advised against holding the election.

Hurriedly, the state government last Friday morning obtained an enrolled order from one of the State High Courts sitting in Ilesa to legitimise the election in the light of a Court of Appeal judgement that reportedly reinstated the sacked chairmen and councillors elected in 2022 under the platform of the major opposition APC.

Governor Adeleke and OSSIEC ignored warnings and proceeded with the controversial poll. As APC announced its withdrawal, candidates of the Labour Party advised OSSIEC to postpone the poll.

However, as early as 7:30am on Saturday, most journalists, even without accredited tags, stormed major towns in the state to cover the exercise. The Guardian reported that as at 7:45am, electoral officials and voters seen at many polling units visited in Ede and its environs claimed that they had finished voting and had counted the ballots.

This came as several polling units visited in Osogbo, Ile-Ife, Iwo, Ilesa, among others, did not experience any form of voting.

For the areas where the election took place, the exercise did not go beyond two hours even as many voters refused to participate for fear of being attacked.

There were reports in Ile-Ife and Osogbo that some armed policemen dispersed electoral officials and voters.

Displeased by the turn of events, a major observer group in the process, JDPMC, announced its withdrawal from the election and asked its observers to recuse themselves. The General Coordinator of the faith-based organisation, Rev Fr Peter Akinkunmi, said the “legal logjam” including the withdrawal of police that greeted the exercise, made OSSIEC inaccessible for information, thus causing irregularities.

Notwithstanding, Adeleke, other government functionaries and PDP leaders who participated in the election, hailed the process as peaceful and credible.

After voting, Adeleke even commended President Bola Tinubu for allowing rule of law to prevail and ensuring peaceful conduct of the poll.

OSSIEC chairman, Abioye, who addressed journalists in a live broadcast reportedly held at Government House, declared that all the candidates of the PDP won in all the chairmanship and councillorship seats.

He stated: “To this effect, by the power conferred on me as the chief returning officer of OSSIEC, I hereby declare them as duly elected chairman of their respective LGA.”

According to Abioye, “The LGA election has been successfully concluded in compliance with constitutional provisions, extant laws, regulations and guidelines.

“From the available result as obtained from the field, the candidates of the PDP in 332 wards emerged as winners, and I as the chief returning officer of the commission hereby return every one of them as duly elected councillors of their wards.

“The election was conducted to fill the existing vacancies in 332 wards in the state and 30 LGAs of the state.”

He affirmed that the elections were contested by 18 political parties and the result has been submitted to the commission.

Explaining why he and other staff left the commission’s headquarters, Abioye claimed that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force arrested staff of the commission, who were on election duty across the state.

Abioye maintained that the arrest of the officials conveying the materials was responsible for the late arrival of materials, adding that new materials were later deployed in the affected areas.

He apologised to media practitioners who did not get their accreditation tags, saying it was due to the invasion of the headquarters by the police.

However, the APC and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) held that no election took place in the state.

Without much ado, all the elected council officials were promptly sworn-in and issued certificates of return with a directive from the state governor to stay away from the Local Government secretariats in order to avoid clashing again with the APC chairman.

At the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on July 11, 2024, which reaffirmed the autonomy of councils and prohibited governors from dissolving democratically elected council officials, the state government hastily organised council polls in their domains. The haste to have a semblance of democratically elected officials was to avert the threat by the Federal Government to withhold the allocation of councils without democratic structures in place.

The ruling also banned the widespread practice of state governors appointing caretaker committees to manage local councils and prohibited federal allocations to councils administered by caretaker committees.

Thirteen states rushed to conduct council polls but usual practice where ruling parties use the SIEC to manipulate the process persists.

In Ebonyi State, council polls were held on July 20, 2024, precisely nine days after the apex court’s verdict, the Ebonyi Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) declared that the APC swept all the available positions in the local council polls.

Jossy Eze, the commission’s chairperson, who announced that in Abakaliki, said the party won all the 13 chairmanship seats and 171 Ward councillors.

The Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission declared the ruling PDP the winner of 20 chairmanship seats in the local government elections conducted on August 17, 2024. This was followed by Kebbi State, which held it on August 30, 2024. The Kebbi State Independent Electoral Commission declared the APC the winner of all positions in the local council polls. The party won all the 21 Chairmanship seats and 225 ward councillors.

Kebbi State Independent Electoral Commission said that 17 political parties participated in the polls, including the APC, NNPP, LP, AAC, Boot Party, AP, and SDP.
After seven years without elected local government officials, the Kwara State government conducted the Local Government election on September 21, 2024.

The Chairman of KWSIEC, Baba Okanla, announced the results and confirmed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won all 16 Local Government Area chairmanship positions and secured all 193 councilorship seats.

This was followed by , which held its council polls on September 21, 2024. The ruling APC also won all 16 local government chairmanship positions and all 193 councillorship seats.

The Chairman of ISIEC, Charles Ejiogu, said that the election followed the guidelines and procedures.

The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) declared the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the Local Government Council elections conducted on 21st September across the state.

Prof Christian Ngwu, chairman of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission( ENSIEC), declared the results, praising the commission’s conduct of a free and fair election.

The ruling APC won the Sokoto State local government election held on September 21, 2024.

The chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission, Alhaji Aliyu Sulaiman, announced the results at the commission’s office in Sokoto. He said the elections featured a competitive race among fifteen political parties across the state. According to him, each party put forward candidates for both the chairmanship and councillorship positions.

In Akwa Ibom, the PDP won 30 of the 31 local government chairmanship seats, leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC) with just one seat in the election conducted on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

The result was released by The Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC)

However, the result indicated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won one local government area.

In Anambra State, the council polls were held on September 28, 2024. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) emerged victorious, winning all chairmanship and councillorship positions across the 21 local government areas and 326 wards.

Genevieve Osakwe, Chairman of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, announced a clean sweep for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Osakwe confirmed that APGA candidates secured all 21 chairmanship and councillorship positions across the state, with results declared at the ward level.

In Benue State, the ruling APC won all the chairmanship and councillorship positions in the Benue local government elections.

The Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), which conducted the elections, declared that the APC secured a complete victory in the polls in a contest among five of the eight political parties that had initially shown interest.

The Rivers State Council polls became controversial just like Osun due to the political tension in the state. It was conducted on October 5, especially the fuss between the incumbent Governor Sim Fubara and his predecessor and Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.

Fubara, who is ruling on the platform of PDP, moved all his candidates to Action Peoples Party (APP), where he won 22 of 23 chairmanship positions in the State local government polls.

Justice Adolphus Enebeli, the Chief Election Officer of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), announced this in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Similar scenario took place in Kogi State on October 19 2024, where the ruling APC won all the polls. In Kaduna State the ruling APC sustained the tempo of winning when the ruling APC cleared the table.
What Should Be Done

A former federal lawmaker, Sam Onuigbo, marshalled out four crucial things to be done for the move to free the Local Government to succeed. “One, he said, “is for the process of electing officers, executive officers, the chairman, the councillors, the house leader within a local government system that must be transparent. It must be fair and it must be credible.”

Onuigbo, who was a member of the Eighth and Ninth House of Representatives, explained that once a Local Government council chairman, his deputy and councillors are manipulated or “appointed,” through what the governors describe as election, they will no longer in any way be answerable to the masses that they are supposed to represent.

“So, it is absolutely important that we have a credible and transparent process of electing local government officers. That’s one.

“Two, when we have received a judgment of the Supreme Court talking about autonomy, that autonomy cannot be complete unless the individuals who are implementing it are in themselves significantly autonomous, which is something they are going to acquire through proper election.

“Three, I do not think that we should allow the position of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to exist side by side with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), because, so far, they have failed the masses. Because, in every state, the ruling party always wins 30 over 30, 40 over 40, 20 over 20.”

The former legislator, who is currently a member of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), called for the urgent amendment of section 124, subsection 1, subsection 4 and ensure that we don’t have provision for State Independent Electoral Commission as covered by other state positions like the Auditor General and the rest of them.

“And then, section 197 of the Constitution, where the State Independent Electoral Commission is also listed, should be amended so as to delete and give power to section 150, subsection 3 of the Electoral Act. That section requires for any election into the local government office to be based on the Electoral Act and that anyone that is in violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act now becomes void.

“So, if we take these actions, we will go a long way in achieving what President Tinubu and the Supreme Court ruling intend to achieve, as far as the Local Government system is concerned,” he remarked.

According to Onuigbo, “The summary of why I am taking this position is that, if you get the Local Government chairman to be properly and independently elected, administering resources that are accrued to that local government in addition to the one that comes from Federation Accounts, that Local Government chairman will be in a position to empower the people around him.

“He will also be in a position to empower the youths, create job opportunities.
But, above all, he will be in a position to secure the environment, because he knows people who make up his local government. So, this is why it is so important,” he added.

Onugbo, who sponsored Nigeria’s Climate Change Act, noted also that section 7 of the Constitution requires local governments to engage in several economic activities.

His words: “So, if they have the resources accruing to them, which they generate through their Internally Generated Revenue, and then they’re getting funds from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, I expect them to be able to handle a lot of things about agriculture, contribute to food production food security, education and health.”

He agreed with President Tinubu, stressing that “when the council chairmen are able and free to do these things, they will keep the people within their domains engaged. You don’t see people trooping out in search of places to go and work or in search of employment and above all, you’ll be able to secure the area.”