LG Autonomy: Political parties demand scrap of State Electoral Commissions

The Inter Party Advisory Council IPAC, a platform for all Nigeria’s registered political parties, has called for the scrap of the States Independent National Electoral Commission SIECs in the wake of the recent decision of the Supreme Court affirming financial autonomy for local government councils.

“To further deepen democracy at the grassroots level, IPAC demands the immediate scrapping of the States Independent Electoral Commissions SIECs. The charade called elections they conduct is an aberration, dent and mockery of our emerging democracy; a waste of tax payers’ money that ought to have been channeled to developmental projects”, said IPAC chairman, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle.

The demand came as the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC described as worrisome, the recent killing of a policeman in Edo state ahead of the September 21 Governorship Election.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2024 third regular consultative meeting with political parties in Abuja.

He said; “Campaign by political parties and candidates is in full swing in both Edo and Ondo States. This is the time for party leaders to demonstrate compliance with the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, especially the aspect dealing with rallies, processions and campaigns already available on our website. As a reminder, however, hard copies of the document have been included in your folders for this meeting.

“The campaign period has often been characterised by acrimony and tension. Sadly, it is also a period of verbal abuse and physical confrontation among parties, candidates and their supporters. The Commission finds the recent event in Edo State resulting in the death of a security personnel worrisome. Happily, there has been no incident known to the Commission since then. Nevertheless, the Commission will meet with the security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). I want to assure you that security in Edo and Ondo will be a major issue for discussion at the meeting. We are as concerned about the safety of your candidates, agents and supporters as we are about the security of our own officials, observers, journalists, service providers and, above all, the voters”.

He said 53 days to the Edo State Governorship election, the commission has recovered from the torrential rainfall that resulted in the severe flooding of the INEC State Headquarters in Benin City two months ago.

According to him, the damage to the physical infrastructure has been fixed, while vehicles have been repaired.

He said other movable and immovable facilities have been serviced, refurbished or are being gradually replaced.

“We have delivered additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to Edo State for the training of election duty personnel as well as contingency for Election Day support. We have since published the final list of candidates but we are once again sharing the list with party leaders at this meeting in view of the recent Court Order mandating the Commission to replace the running mate of the candidate of the Labour Party. The amended list is already published on our website.

“Following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), the display of the register for claims and objections by citizens, and further data clean-up using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), the final register for the 2024 Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States are being finalised. Before the end of this week, the Commission will publish the final figures of new voters in the two States as well as their distribution by gender, age, occupation and disability. Thereafter, the timetable for the collection of uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) from previous registration and new registrants from the latest CVR will be published”, he added.

Yakubu disclosed that as of Sunday 28th July 2024, 14 political parties had uploaded the details of 38,354 polling agents and 819 collation agents for the Edo State Governorship election.

“Three parties are yet to upload a single polling agent while five parties have not uploaded a single agent for Ward, Local Government and State collation centers. The deadline is tomorrow Tuesday 30th July 2024 when the portal automatically shuts down at midnight. I urge you to ensure that you meet the deadline so that the Commission can produce the accreditation tags and deliver them to you for distribution to your agents in good time”, he stated.

Yakubu added that the commission will soon announce dates for bye-elections in three State Constituencies and three Federal Constituencies.

Scrap SIECs

Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council IPAC, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, commended the recent financial autonomy granted the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria following the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court.

“To further deepen democracy at the grassroots level, IPAC demands the immediate scrapping of the States Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs). The charade called elections they conduct is an aberration, dent and mockery of our emerging democracy; a waste of tax payers’ money that ought to have been channeled to developmental projects.

“SIECS do not have voter registers, BVAS, IReV portals, ballot boxes and trained personnel to conduct credible elections. The polls they pretend to conduct contribute to voters’ apathy and distrust in the electoral process.

“To restore confidence in the electoral system, INEC should be empowered to conduct all Local Government elections. Politics is local, citizens should be encouraged to actively participate in grassroots politics and contribute in building a better society.

“In this vein, IPAC calls for the amendment of the Constitution and the Electoral Act to empower INEC to conduct all Local Governments polls. Council rejects the proposed bill by the Senate to create the so-called Local Government Independent Electoral Commission, bearing in mind that it would be another SIEC in disguise. It is unacceptable, ill-conceived, another electoral jamboree that will impede the nation’s democracy and waste public funds at a time when citizens demand a smaller government to reduce the cost of governance”, he stated .