LG AUTONOMY: Moves to scrap SIECs raise dust

BEGINNING from next week, moves to scrap state independent electoral commissions, SIECs, will gain momentum. Upon resumption from its break on Tuesday, September, the National Assembly, among others, is expected to consider a bill to establish a new body to take over the conduct of local government elections from SIECs.

Before now, the polity was awash with debates on whether conduct of council polls should be returned to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Those in favour of INEC claimed that the December 5, 1998 council polls conducted by the INEC have remained the best grassroots elections ever since as more parties won seats compared to succeeding polls conducted by SIECs in which ruling parties had the upper hand.

However, the current move is for a parallel national election body to the INEC.

If passed into law, the Bill, sponsored by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa will establish the National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission, NILGEC, and it will be responsible for conducting local government chairmen and councillors elections, and any other matter concerning local governments as the third tier of government.

The bill was introduced after the Supreme Court abolished the joint States and Local Government accounts via its July 2024 judgment.

With the apex court verdict, the polity has been awash with debates on the kind of federalism Nigeria is practising–two tier or three tier. The constitution recognises the states as the federating units of the federation; and Section 162 (6-8) of the 1999 constitution provides for the operation of a joint state/local government account.

Though the Supreme Court has outlawed the section, it remains in the constitution with the National Assembly unable to remove it because it needs the support of two-third of the 36 states houses of assembly via Section 9 of the Constitution.

Section 197(1) of the Constitution, which states: “There shall be established for each State of the Federation, the State Independent Electoral Commission…”

Sources said leaders of the National Assembly are determined to push through the new law, which will lead to a constitutional impasse over the state/LGAs joint accounts and the implementation of the new law unless sections 162 and 197 of the constitution are amended.

Strengthen, don’t scrap SIECs – YIAGA

Following the seeming lack of independence of the SIECs, some stakeholders including YIAGA Africa have called for the strengthening and independence of the commissions instead of scrapping them.

Dismissing calls for the abolition of SIECs and the transfer of the responsibility of conducting local council polls to the INEC as flawed, the YIAGA said the move would have far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s 25-year democracy if implemented.

“First, it will overstretch an overburdened INEC leading to poorly conducted local elections. Second, it undermines the autonomy of states guaranteed in the Constitution, potentially leading to an over-concentration of power in the Federal Government. Thirdly, it weakens local democracy and citizens’ participation as local communities will be stripped of the opportunity to participate in decision-making, “ it said.

“Abolishing SIECs is not a solution to flawed local government elections. Instead, addressing the underlying issues and strengthening SIECs through legal and institutional reforms will enhance local democracy and preserve the integrity of LGA elections,” it added.

In 2022, the National Assembly introduced a provision in the 2022 Electoral Act to regulate the procedure for LGA elections in a bid to salvage the integrity of local government elections. SIECs were compelled by the Act to conduct local elections in conformity with the procedures laid out in the 2022 Electoral Act. States have since been updating electoral laws to conform with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.

Way forward

To strengthen electoral democracy at the local government level, Yiaga Africa, in a statement by its Executive Director, Mr. Samson Itodo suggested:

*Amend the Constitution to explicitly safeguard the operational, administrative and financial independence of SIECs. Ensure that the power of the SIECs to make its own rules and regulate procedures should not be subject to the approval or control of governors, thereby protecting their autonomy;

*Address the ambiguity regarding the tenure of local government chairmen and councilors through constitutional amendments to minimize arbitrary dissolutions of local governments by governors supported by state legislatures. Establish clear timelines for making appointments into SIECs;

*Introduce additional mechanisms for equitable devolution of power to state and local government, including laws that empower local governments with greater administrative and fiscal autonomy;

*State Houses of Assembly should enact a robust legal framework for SIEC activities, including guidelines for conducting elections, dispute resolution procedures, and penalties for electoral misconduct. State electoral laws must be harmonized with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act to ensure uniformity and legal coherence;

*SIECs should invest in capacity development to improve the quality of election administration at the state level; and

*Political parties, civil society organizations and media organizations should take immediate measures to conduct extensive voter education and civic engagement initiatives at the local level to encourage citizen participation in local government elections.

This is coming as Senate President Godswill Akpabio said that the Senate will tinker with the constitution in order to allow for the implementation of the Supreme Court Judgment on local government autonomy.

Akpabio stated this yesterday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Capital when he received members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the State, who were loyal to the erstwhile Interim National Secretary of the party, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, he said: “I thank President Bola Tinubu for looking for a way to bring the all needed autonomy to the local governments through the intervention of the Supreme Court. The Senate, under my leadership, will tinker with the constitution to ensure that the judgment is fully implemented without any loopholes for manipulation by the practitioners.”

It would be recalled that the former APC scribe had defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, after losing out in the leadership of the party.

Speaking further on the return of the party members Akpabio said, ” the only thing that is permanent in life is change. Before my coming into the APC, the party never won even a councillor seat in the state and I came into the party in 2018, the then leaders of the party saw me as an enemy.

“During the 2019 elections, the APC worked against the APC. We had the best chance to have won the governorship and other elections in the state, but the then leaders refused to see it from that angle.

” I joined the APC so that we would be linked to the centre and I thank God today that that dream finally came to pass in 2023. I am today the President of the Senate, through the grace of God Almighty, the support of President Bola Tinubu and my distinguished colleagues who elected me.”

Speaking on behalf of the returnees, who said they never left the party, even though their leader left, Eteubong Alex Umoh, Obong Kufre Akpan and Mrs Roseline Eyang said: “We never left the APC. We never joined any other party because we know you as the leader of the party in the state.”