By Johnson Nwankwo
Barr Chijioke Edeoga, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu State during the 2023 general elections, Tuesday, called on the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution to delist state electoral commissions and transfer the conduct of elections into all local governments in Nigeria to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Edeoga commended the Supreme Court verdict of July 11, 2024 which affirmed full financial autonomy to the 774 local government areas of the country, expressing joy that many governors had pledged to comply with the ruling.
Quoting him, “But the National Assembly should note that while Nigerians welcomed the judgment, they have equally pointed out that the judgment would be ineffectual without a corresponding amendment that guarantees relatively fairer and freer council elections.
“Such pessimistic views should not be dismissed with a wave of the hand because, their public show of support for the judgment of the Supreme Court notwithstanding, it would not be out of place to find lots of governors continuing to pressurize their respective state Houses of Assembly to withhold assent to any Bill for such important constitutional amendment to sustain the stranglehold on local councils and the resources due to them from the federation account.”
He said abrogation of state electoral bodies would convince everyone to work together for the greater good of our country.
He acknowledged that an amendment process of some critical sections of the constitution was ongoing, adding that the particular section that affects local government autonomy should be isolated and its amendment fast-tracked “now that a national consensus is already in place”.
In his words, “If this is not done, the judgment of the Supreme Court on that matter will be seen as inchoate, thus providing a lacuna that would be further exploited to the detriment of the functional financial fate of local governments.”
He therefore suggested that an Executive Bill to excise Section 197 1(b) of the Constitution which created state independent electoral commissions be initiated by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
He stated that, “Section 153 (1) which created INEC should also be amended to fully vest the national elections management body with the powers to conduct elections to local government councils.
“Efforts should be made to isolate the sections relating to local government elections from the basket of other amendments that have been proposed to the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly and give it immediate attention to attain quick passage and Presidential assent.”
He said the abrogation was of the essence given that at least 22 of the 36 states currently run the local government areas in their respective states under undemocratic caretaker arrangements, adding that “if the amendment is fast-tracked and approved by the president, elections in the local councils can be arranged to fall into a single calendar”.
