Rights group seeks reformed State Electoral Commissions

A civil society organisation, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), has called for far-reaching reforms in State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to make local council elections credible and democratic.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, against the background of preparations for the forthcoming Lagos State council polls, Executive Director of WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiode-Afolabi, stressed that time has come to make the commission fall in line with ideals that guarantee impartiality, neutrality and fairness.

“Some remarkable improvements have been noticed in the conduct and operations of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in recent times. Such improvements are needed for State Electoral Commissions. Now is the time for civil society groups to focus on the activities of SIECs to ensure that democracy goes down to the roots,” she declared.

The Executive Director regretted that the participation of women in grassroots governance is abysmally poor; pointing out that in future, WARDC would engage political parties to ensure that they expand openings for women participation in elective contests at the council level.