Why INEC Should Conduct LG Polls – HURIWA, ADC

• HURIWA called for urgent constitutional amendments to permit INEC to conduct local council elections in the 36 states and FCT
• The ADC advocated for the abolition of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to liberate the third tier of government from the control of state governors

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for promulgating 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 of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, made this call on Wednesday, emphasizing that the recent Supreme Court judgment granting full financial autonomy to local councils will remain ineffective unless legal frameworks, via urgent constitutional amendments, are enacted to permit INEC to conduct these elections.

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

Onwubiko noted that INEC has a commendable record of conducting some of the best, freest, and most peaceful elections for the six area councils of the FCT over a prolonged period, placing the electoral umpire in an advantageous position to conduct local council elections in the remaining 36 states.

Similarly, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has advocated for the abolition of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to liberate the third tier of government from the control of state governors. The ADC National Chairman, Dr. Ralphs Okey Nwosu, speaking at a colloquium for ADC members in the six Area Councils of the FCT on Wednesday, argued that the political process should be made credible and that governors would always find ways to circumvent local government autonomy if SIECs continue to conduct council elections.

Dr. Nwosu pointed out that in Delta and Adamawa states, where local government elections were conducted after the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy, the ruling parties in both states won all the chairmanship and councillorship positions.

For democracy to be genuinely reflected in the third tier of government, Dr Nwosu asserted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be allowed to conduct all elections in the country.