From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The Labour Party (LP), in Benue state have called on the National Assembly to ensure that the ongoing constitutional review makes the necessary changes that will allow only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and not SIEC to conduct the Local Government elections to make their hard earned autonomy effective.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court in a judgement granted the Local Governments financial autonomy and urged the federal government to send the statuary monies meant for them straight to their accounts.
The state Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr Tersoo Orbunde, made this call on Friday while speaking to our correspondent in Makurdi.
Orbunde who hailed the Supreme Court judgment on Local Government Autonomy said it’s a welcome development and a big step forward that is long over due.
He however expressed some mixed feelings about it’s effectiveness with the conduct of Local Government elections vested in the hands of State Independent Electoral Commission, (SIEC).
While expressing worry that SIEC is still controlled by the state governors who put their cronies as chairmen so they can have access to the funds, the Labour Party chieftain called for a constitutional change that will domiciled the. Induct of LG elections in the hands of INEC.
Orbunde said “We welcome the LG autonomy given by the Supreme Court with mixed feelings. It’s like we asked for full bread but they have given us half but still we want them to ensure the bread comes in full.”
The publicity secretary who described state governors as the bane of local government administration in Nigeria, said “the governors put their cronies and subvert the laws by making them submit the monies back to them through frivolous subheads.
“Yes the money will be paid into the LG accounts which is a good one from the Federal Government but the person in charge of the money is where our problem lies.”
He recalled that in 1998 to1999, INEC conducted local government elections and in Benue, parties at that time, APP and PDP won elections in the local government lamenting that thereafter, no election has ever happened like that.
He said “subsequently, elections conducted by SIEC in Benue were shams. If it is APC that is on seat, all APC candidates will get elected from counselor to the chairmen, they will fill in their cronies and if it is PDP that is on seat, all the seats from counselor to chairmen will be gotten by PDP to the point that other political parties like Labour Party are not even willing to participate in such sham election done by SIEC.
“So seeing that it is the cronies that are being selected instead of people being elected, they will still bring back the money to the governors because they know how they came in, their allegiance is with the governor and they know that if they don’t do it, the governor will remove them.
“So we are saying that as good as paying money into their account is, we expect that as the national assembly is going on with the constitution review, they should change the constitution in such a way that the conduct of elections, all elections including the local government, should be rested with the National INEC and not SIEC because SIEC have never done any election, it is selection.
“So the supreme Court judgment is one down. We have taken a step forward by paying money into LG accounts directly and the next step is let’s make the conduct of the LG elections to rest with the National INEC so that we can get it right with the local government chairmen, the councilors and the governors will not have control of anybody elected,” he said.