MDC2024: How to organise credible ocal goverment elections in Nigeria – Experts

Experts have attributed the rampant legal violations in the conduct of local government elections in Nigeria to systemic flaws and malpractices that continue to undermine the democratic process.

They identified state governors’ control of state electoral bodies, the exclusion of opposition candidates, and the manipulation of election results, as part of the major flaws in the system.

The experts spoke on Tuesday in Abuja during a session in the ongoing Media and Development Conference (MDC 2024) organised by the Centre for Journalism and Innovative Development.

The session was a panel discussion on “local government autonomy and the prospect for grassroots development.”

The session was moderated by the CJID project manager, Media and National Elections, Amina Miango. The panelists were Chairperson, Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM), Hajara Muhammad; Head, Tracka, BudgiT, Ayo Ladipo; the executive director of the Electoral College of Nigeria, Kunle Lawal; and Chairman Information & Voter Education Committee(IVEC), Festus Okoye.

The MDC 2024 is a 3 day event organised by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), and is themed, ‘Navigating Global Shifts: Media and Technology for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Africa.’

During the panel session, Mr Okoye estimated that 99 per cent of the local government elections conducted in the last few years violate the law.

According to him, the lack of independence and the control governors exert on the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), the body overseeing local government elections, hav also made it difficult to conduct credible elections.

He stated that in many cases, state governments delay or avoid conducting local government elections altogether, opting instead to appoint caretaker committees.

Mr Okoye said this practice undermines constitutional provisions that mandate democratically elected local government councils.

Promoting credibility in elections

In her contributions, the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM), Mrs Muhammad, said according to the law, every state government must guarantee the autonomy of the local government, but this is not reality,

She also said that the assumption that electronic voting guarantees credible elections at the local government election level is wrong.

“Instead, we need to straighten up the institution to conduct credible elections,” she said

Mrs Muhammad pointed out that electronic voting alone cannot address political interference in Nigeria’s electoral system.

She said some state-level actors who control local elections could still influence the process through other means, such as manipulating electronic results transmission or exploiting loopholes in the system.

“Electronic voting is good, the world is moving to a digital age, but that alone does not guarantee credible election.

“There are so many things that must be in place. Some top world countries have changed from electronic to manual because it was credible enough. Take for instance, Germany,” she said

The executive director of the Electoral College of Nigeria, Kunle Lawal, also highlighted the importance of citizen participation.

He said elections at the local government level are overlooked by citizens, Civil Society Organisations, and stakeholders, contributing to the lack of accountability that permeates this level of government.

“Local government authorities do not have immunity and who better to hold accountable if not the local government?

“In Nigeria, we have less than 70 per cent electorate participation in local government elections. We just don’t care, but democracy cannot survive with the local government,” he said.

Capacity development

Meanwhile, the Head of Tracka, BudgiT, Ayo Ladipo, called for capacity training for leaders at the local government level and community engagement across states.

According to her, most of the candidates elected to occupy chairmanship positions are incompetent people who lack the requisite knowledge to lead.

Ms Ladipo said capacity is needed for financial autonomy to translate to local government development in Nigeria.

“The people at that level of government have been overlooked, and we have incomplete people in power.

“We need capable of handling that level of power and properly handling the limited resources and utilising them for development,” Mrs Ladipo noted.

She further said that more funds should be allocated to local government to ensure development at the grassroots level.

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“Some local governments spend 97 per cent of their money on salaries,” she said.

“We need to empower the grassroots people to engage their leaders.

“The not too young bill is there, and young people do not vie for posts at this level and leave them to incapable people,” Ms Ladipo added.