Dennis Erezi
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wednesday, came hard on States Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs), describing local government elections conducted as mere coronation of candidates of the ruling parties.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave the verdict when the Chairmen and other executive members of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commission of Nigeria (FOSIECOM) led by its Chairman, Barrister Jossy Eze visited the commission’s headquarters Abuja.
Declaring that it is time to stop the coronation and conduct proper elections, Yakubu urged State Governors to allow SIECs have greater capacity for independent action.
He said while there are legal and financial constraints to the operations of SIEC, their independence does not necessarily draw from statutory or financial provisions alone.
Yakubu said: “Many of the SIECs have no functional offices in the Local Government Areas in their States and cannot recruit their own permanent staff,” Yakubu said.
“In some States, the SIECs are either not properly constituted, have no security of tenure or their critical functions have been taken over by government officials. Some SIECs are only constituted on the eve of elections and dissolved thereafter.
“They are also severely under-resourced to the extent that some of them rely on INEC even for basic facilities such as ballot boxes and voting cubicles.
“Consequently, many Nigerians mistake the SIECs for INEC. Indeed, even some of the stakeholders, including candidates for Local Government elections, call them State INEC. This situation has forced us to reconsider some aspects of our relationship with the SIECs. Our support is now largely restricted to the voters’ register as provided by the Constitution.”
Yakubu explained that INEC cannot shoulder its own extensive responsibilities and at the same time extend almost limitless support to other independent electoral commissions for elections outside its mandate across the country from its lean Federal budget.
The INEC chairman recalled that over the years, attempts were made to encourage the SIECs to maintain their independence.
He said all the initiatives were proposed and undertaken in the firm belief that by working together, the 36 SIECs will leverage on the experience of INEC for a progressive improvement in the conduct of Local Government elections in Nigeria.
Yakubu added: “INEC is not unaware of the ongoing discussions about the future of elections for the 774 Local Government Chairmen as well as Councillors representing the 8,809 electoral wards in Nigeria.
“However, under the extant law, the 36 SIECs are responsible for the election of 768 Local Government Chairmen and 8,747 Councillors, making a total of 9,515 constituencies.
“INEC conducts elections for the 68 constituencies in the FCT made up of six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councillors, including bye-elections as they arise.
“It has been our earnest hope that the elections conducted by INEC in the FCT will provide a model for Local Government elections across the country. In spite of the challenges encountered, there has been a progressive improvement in the conduct of the Area Council Elections in the FCT.
“There is security of tenure for Chairmen and Councillors which is now four years. There are no caretaker committees as elections are held regularly.
“There is plurality in electoral outcomes as no single party has ever won elections in all the constituencies in the Area Councils. Happily, the Electoral Act 2022 that now governs the conduct of national and Area Council elections also applies to Local Government elections nationwide.
“This has been made possible by the efforts of INEC arising from earlier discussions with FOSIECOM on the imperative of a model law to govern the conduct of Local Government elections across the country.”
