SIECs and council polls

Most Nigerians have condemned the shoddy conduct of local government elections by the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) in recent times. Elections conducted by SIECs are seen as mere coronation of the candidates of the party in power in the states. The SIECs have become tools in the hands of state governors to compromise elections at the grassroots across the country. There is even no attempt to make the elections free, fair and credible. All that matters is to ensure that the ruling party wins all the seats. It is perhaps the absence of credible polls at the council level that prompted the recent call by Nigerians for the scrapping of SIECs.

The seeming lack of democracy at the council level, occasioned by lack of credible polls and the governors’ penchant to appoint caretaker committees in place of elected officials, has stifled democratic governance at the third tier of government across the country. The governors have literally negated the local government system by unduly controlling the federal allocations to the councils and dictating what happens in the local governments. The killing of democracy at the grassroots level has contributed to the general poverty and insecurity in the country.

Arising from the foregoing, we welcome the recent call by patriotic Nigerians for the scrapping of SIECs. The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), sees the scrapping of SIECs as part of measures to strengthen the local government administration.

The AGF, who identified the SIECs as the major impediment to democratic development at the local government level, argued that their functions should be transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).  Fagbemi noted that the ability of LGAs to perform developmental functions, particularly in a federal system like Nigeria revolves around the nature of the relationship between the federal, state and local governments.

According to the AGF, “Their functions and powers should be transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission because the SIECs remain an appendage to every incumbent governor. This is perceived as the root cause of the problem of local government administration in Nigeria.”

The call for the scrapping of SIECs is not new. In the run-up to the 2019 general elections, a conglomeration of 25 Nigerian political parties acting on the platform of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, recommended the scrapping of SIECs as a way of protecting the nation’s democracy. The parties that made the call included the Labour Party, Progressive Peoples Alliance, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Accord Party, African Democratic Congress, Democratic Peoples Congress, National Conscience Party and Progressive Peoples Alliance.

The national chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has also raised concerns about the conduct of local government elections in the country. Yakubu described the elections at the councils as mere coronation of the ruling party’s candidates. He called for significant reforms to ensure fair and credible elections at the local government level.

The INEC boss, who stated this during a courtesy call by the executive members of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions, also criticised state governors for not allowing SIECs to operate independently. “State governors should allow the SIECs to have greater capacity for independent action. Many of the SIECs have no functional offices in the local government areas in their states and cannot recruit their permanent staff,” he said.

However, scrapping of SIECs and giving their duties to INEC will overburden the electoral umpire. Even the INEC has not discharged its functions to the satisfaction of Nigerians. It has been accused of shoddy conduct of elections and not following its rules in some cases. For instance, its conduct of the 2023 general election has been questioned. Under INEC, there is apparently no guarantee that the local government polls cannot be compromised.

We need to reform the entire electoral system and ensure credible polls at all tiers of government. If the scraping of SIECs will ensure credibility of council polls, so let it be. SIEC is a creation of Section 197 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Also, Section 7 of the Constitution clearly states; “the system of the local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution granted; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”

Despite this provision, the governors have put in place caretaker committees to serve in the councils for years. And when they try to conduct council polls, they make sure their candidates win every seat. INEC should take over the conduct of elections at the councils provided the elections are credible, free and fair. Therefore, if INEC can conduct elections at the federal and state levels, there is no reason it should not do so at the local government level.