Why INEC should conduct LG polls – HURIWA, ADC

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for the promulgation of relevant frameworks for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local council elections in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. The National Coordinator, HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, who made the call on Wednesday, said the recent judgment […]

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for the promulgation of relevant frameworks for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local council elections in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

The National Coordinator, HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, who made the call on Wednesday, said the recent judgment of the Supreme Court granting full financial autonomy to the local councils in the country will remain a mirage unless legal frameworks by way of urgent constitutional amendment are effected to permit INEC to conduct local council elections.

“The amendment should specify that in the conduct of the local council elections, the INEC should be made to follow similar patterns and methodologies that are adopted in the United Kingdom by the Electoral Commission of Great Britain, with local electoral services teams embedded within the larger framework of the INEC established and made to function optimally,” Onwubiko said.

He said INEC has enviable and illustrious records of conducting some of the best, freest, and most peaceful elections for the six area councils of the FCT for a prolonged period of time, which puts the electoral umpire in a good and indeed pole position to conduct the local council elections in the remaining 36 states of the federation.

Similarly, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) said the only way to finally liberate the third tier of government from the stranglehold of state governors is to abolish the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).

The ADC National Chairman, Dr. Ralphs Okey Nwosu, while speaking at a colloquium organised for ADC members in the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday, argued that the political process should be made credible, adding that the governors will always find a way to circumvent the local government autonomy if SIEC continues to conduct elections into the councils.

The national chairman noted that in Delta and Adamawa states, where local government elections were conducted after the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy, the ruling party in the two states cleared all the chairmanship and councillorship positions.

According to him, for a semblance of democracy to be seen at the third tier of government, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be allowed to conduct all the elections in the country.