After S/Court judgement: State govts race to conduct LG polls

Kogi, Bauchi, Kaduna fix dates Following the judgment of the Supreme Court stopping payment of statutory allocations to local governments without democratically elected chairmen, some state governments have put in motion the processes of conducting local council elections. The Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC), the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM), and the Kogi […]

• Kogi, Bauchi, Kaduna fix dates

Following the judgment of the Supreme Court stopping payment of statutory allocations to local governments without democratically elected chairmen, some state governments have put in motion the processes of conducting local council elections.

The Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC), the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM), and the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) on Tuesday fixed August 16, October 19, and October 21, respectively, to conduct local council elections in their states.

This comes on the heels of the judgment of the Supreme Court last week, which declared caretaker administration in the third tier of government in any state illegal and unconstitutional.

The judgment had also directed that only local governments with democratically elected chairmen should henceforth be directly credited with their statutory allocations.

The apex court judgment, when effected, could see over 400 local government areas currently without duly elected chairmen miss out on the 20.60 per cent of Nigeria’s monthly revenue allocated by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

Before the apex court’s judgment, 21 states in the country were without duly elected local government councils. The number, however, was reduced to 19 at the weekend, with Adamawa and Delta states conducting their LG polls.

Announcing the date for the LG polls for Bauchi, Alhaji Ahmed Makama, BASIEC chairman, pledged to conduct a free, fair, credible, and acceptable election.

He stated this when he interacted with newsmen on Tuesday in Bauchi, where he explained that the election is expected to fill 20 chairmanship and 323 councillorship seats.

He said the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) used during the previous elections would be the valid authentication for the election and called for cooperation from the citizens to strengthen the electoral system.

On his part, Mamman Nda Eri, the chairman of KOSIEC, while speaking yesterday in Lokoja during a stakeholders meeting where the commission presented the “Notice of Election/Timetable and Schedule of Activities of the Proposed Election,” said, “Campaigns start on September 12 and end on October 17, while the publication of the list of candidates will be on September 13.”

Several stakeholders who spoke at the meeting said they would study the schedule as presented and then make their views known at the appropriate time.

It could be recalled that the caretaker committees currently administering the local government areas in Kogi State were constituted on January 9, and their tenures were extended on July 5 for another six months via the State House of Assembly’s resolution.

In Kaduna, Hajiya Hajara Mohammed, the chairman of KAD-SIECOM, said at a meeting with political parties and other stakeholders in the state on Tuesday that the current council chairmen were sworn into office on November 1, 2021, and therefore their three-year tenure will end on October 31.

She assured the stakeholders of the commission’s readiness to conduct the election on the set date.

Parties’ representatives at the meeting urged the commission to provide a fair playing field during the election.

In Kwara, the state Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) has also intensified preparations for the LG polls, which were recently fixed for September 21.

Chairman of the commission, Mohammed Baba Okanla, while speaking on Tuesday during a one-day stakeholders forum in preparation for the polls, charged the political parties to conduct issue-based campaigns, respect electoral laws, and promote peaceful participation.

The state chairman of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Babatunde Mohammed, described the initiative as a welcome development, adding that Kwarans have been yearning for council polls for close to a decade now. He charged the commission not to dampen the morale of the electorate but to continue to create a level playing field for all political parties.