Quality of LG elections still low — INEC,
SIECs express misgivings over S’Court judgment on Rivers council polls
By Omeiza Ajayi & Eniola Akande
ABUJA— The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday lamented the “low quality” of local government elections conducted by the States’ Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs, seeking improvements in the areas of planning, execution and adherence to statutory electoral timelines.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this when he received the new leadership of the Forum of States Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria, FOSIECON.
His admonition came as the forum expressed misgivings over the Supreme Court judgment, which cancelled Rivers State local government election.
Addressing the delegation, Yakubu said: “I wish to draw your attention to the importance of adhering to the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 pertaining to local government elections, (particularly the omnibus provisions of Section 151 and Sections 98 to 113 dealing with the procedure for area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory where the law says it equally applies to the conduct of local government elections around and across the country.
“Your role is significant to credible elections in Nigeria. Local government elections, just like local government areas, are the foundation not only of federal elections but also of government.
“I would like to note that virtually all the states of the federation now have elected local government councils, but you will also agree with me that the challenge of local government elections is the quality of the elections.
“So, I hope we have the opportunity for us in a closed session to discuss how I and my partners at the electoral commission can continue to work to improve the quality of these elections.
“We share responsibility with the state electoral commissions on the conduct of local government elections. Your mandate is exclusively the conduct of local government elections.
“Our responsibility is the conduct of national elections as well as the local government elections, but only in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, where INEC has responsibility for the conduct of local government elections.”
He also cautioned against the traditions of SIECs issuing 21 days notices of ejections which he said runs foul of the law.
“In the FCT, the elections are held regularly and no one party has won all the elections. We have functional offices in all the six area councils in the FCT.
“Equally important is forward planning in the conduct of elections. For instance, the next area council election in the FCT takes place in February next year. But early this year, we released the timetable and schedule of activities for the election – over 360 days ahead of the election, as provided by law.
“It is on this note that I would like to seize this opportunity to draw your attention to the judgment of the Supreme Court. Conducting local government elections without serving the mandatory statutory notice long before the election contravenes the judgment of the Supreme Court.
‘’The recent announcement by the state electoral commissions, which fix in effect, 21 days notice, is not only a violation of the law but also the subsisting judgment of the Supreme Court.
“It is also a practical problem. Within 21 days, how do you expect political parties to conduct primaries, nominate candidates, organise campaigns, and for the electoral commission to conduct voter education, recruit and train ad-hoc staff, manage logistics and organise security for the election? It is practically impossible to do that within 21 days,” Yakubu stated.
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman of the Forum, Mamman Nda Eri, said the forum had a lot of issues bothering it, one of which is the annulment of the council election in Rivers State by the apex court.
“One of the issues is the recent Supreme Court judgment that annulled Rivers State local government elections.
‘’It is so clear that most of the states here have their own laws that have been enacted and passed by their Houses of Assembly.
“The fact remains that most of us have the issue of 90 days notice of election. From all indications, one of the Supreme Court judgment hammered on the issue of 360 days. How do we marry these two? Our state laws and the laws made by the National Assembly for FCT.
“From that judgment, we were told that the procedures that INEC use for election should be the same procedures that we use for Local Government elections. At this junction, iy is certain that most of the states are not capable financially to use these procedures”, he said.
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SIECs express misgivings over S’Court judgment on Rivers council polls By Omeiza Ajayi & Eniola Akande ABUJA— The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday lamented the “low quality” of local government elections conducted by the States’ Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs, seeking improvements in the areas of planning, execution and adherence to statutory electoral timelines. INEC […]
The post Quality of LG elections still low — INEC appeared first on Vanguard News.
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