From Jude Owuamanam, Jos

Forum of the State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria (FOSIECON) has said instead of scrapping state electoral commissions as being canvassed, they should be strengthened and made more efficient to conduct credible local government elections.

The forum frowned at situations whereby SIECS were being presented as stooges or appendages to state governors.

National chairman of the forum, Jossy Chibundu Eze, who spoke at the 13th national delegates conference of FOSIECON in Jos, yesterday, said SIECS should also be given greater independence, financial autonomy and respect as a constituted authority.

“SIECs are constitutionally empowered to operate independently, yet are often pressured to serve the interests of those who appoint them.”

Eze regretted that despite their autonomy being guaranteed by law, SIECs often struggle with inadequate funding, which forces them to rely on state executives who may attempt to influence their operations.

He noted that SIECs lacked administrative control as they do not have the authority to hire, manage or discipline their own staff. This, he said, weakens the capacity of the commissions to deliver credible grassroots elections and leaves them vulnerable to manipulation or inefficiency.

“We are not ‘State INECs’ or handmaids of governors. We are constitutionally distinct institutions,” he declared, insisting that SIECs should not be blamed for political parties’ failures, especially when such parties boycott elections or fail to field candidates.

Governors of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang and his Nasarawa State counterpart, Abudullahi Sule, also agreed that SIECS should not be scrapped but be made more functional

In their submissions at the conference, the two governors, who spoke on the theme: “Local Government Elections in Nigeria: Issues, challenges and opportunities” disagreed with the notion that SIECS are mere tools in the hands of governors.

Mutfwang called for greater collaboration between INEC and the state electoral commissions.

He maintained that challenges associated with local government elections in Nigeria were largely hinged on the leadership at all levels.

“I would like to posit that the whole challenge of national development and institutions boil down to leadership. When the leadership decides that things will be done well, they will be done well.

“Today, we are talking about the steady developments in the Middle East because they have leaders that have conscience; leaders that are passionate about their people, leaders that are determined to change the course of history.

“And I think the conversation for us should not start with SIECs, perhaps the conversation should even begin with the process of leadership recruitment in our country.

“So, any suggestion that SIECs should be scrapped and a new set of agents be imported from heaven to man them is a retrogressive idea which must be rejected,” Mutfwang said. Governor Sule also rejected calls for the scrapping of SIECs and called for attitudinal change among Nigerians.

He said the major problem confronting SIECs is not just funding, but high levels of interference by the political class.

“I have been a governor for six years, I know that interference is one of the major challenges confronting SIECs.

“I came with this American mentality of conducting free and fair elections at the local government level, but it was rejected by the stakeholders and party faithful.

“This is the story in almost every state. So, with these challenges, the SIECs will not do any better and until we are able to handle these issues, we are only deceiving ourselves.

“The abolition of SIECs is neither a solution, and we are not going to actually support that, because the same problem they are facing today will not change even if the power to conduct local government election is transferred to a different body,” he said

In a keynote address, Prof. Sam Egwu, said that the call for the scrapping of SIECs negates the principle of federalism.

Egwu, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Benue,  called for the strengthening of SIECs to conduct credible elections at the local level.

“I support the retention of SIECs but they should be strengthened because we are a federal polity.

“The call for the transfer of powers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local elections will not fly,” he said

Egwu, however, commended development partners, particularly the European Union (EU) for their efforts towards strengthening the capacity of SIECs.

“I want to thank Nigeria’s development partners, particularly the EU and all the partners that are supporting FOSIECON to strengthen SIECs.

“What is very interesting about the development partners is not the quantum of money they bring.

“But if you look at the entire contribution of donors in this country, it’s not up to one percentage of Nigeria’s annual budget.

“Yet, development partners are very strategic in their intervention,” he said.