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Tag: local governments

  • Agitation for new local government areas intensify as House passes bills for second reading

    Agitation for new local government areas intensify as House passes bills for second reading

    Agitation for additional local government areas has intensified with the House of Representatives on Thursday passing several constitutional amendment bills to create local government areas in parts of the country scaling second reading. 

    One of such is the bill seeking the creation of Bende North local government area of Abua state from the existing one sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu. 

    Others include the creation of Ughievwen local government in Delta State, Ideato West in Imo state, Zurmi from Zamfara State and an unspecified number of local government areas from Enugu state. 

    On Wednesday, the House passed for second reading a bill seeking to recognise the 37 Development Area Councils of Lagos State as legitimate local government as well as the creation of new local government areas in some states and the renaming of others. 

    Other bills passed for second reading include the bill to set timeline within which civil and criminal cases are heard, involve the National Assembly in the process of treaties negotiation, provide for the listing of the National Assembly Service Commission and State House of Assembly Service Commission as Independent Bodies.

    The lawmakers also passed for second reading bills seeking establishment of the University of Nigerian Languages, Aba, Abia State and provide for the conduct of population census every ten years.

    The proposed legislations sponsored by Kalu and some other lawmakers were presented for second reading by the House leader Hon. Julius Ihonvbere. 

    They are: “Bill for An Act to Repeal the National Institute for Nigerian Languages Act, Cap. N50, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Enact the Provisions for the Establishment of the University of Nigerian Languages, Aba, Abia State to Make Comprehensive Provisions of its Due Management and Administration. 

    Others are a Bill that provide for the Involvement of the National Assembly in the Process of Negotiation for and Entering into Treaties with Other Countries, Bill to Provide for the listing of the National Assembly Service Commission and State House of Assembly Service Commission as Independent Bodies Under Sections 158 and 197 Respectively; to Enhance the Independence of the National Assembly Service Commission and State House of Assembly Service Commission, to Clearly Designate the Clerk of the National Assembly and Clerks of State Houses of Assembly as Heads of Legislative Service at the National and Sub-national Levels.

    For the University of Nigerian Languages Aba, Abia State, the bill seeks to provide for the upgrade of the institute to a university to allow it run degree programmes.

    It also seeks to promote the study and use of Nigerian languages, ensure that the legal framework of the institute conforms to the regulations of the National Universities Commission, and to establish a university that will promote the study and use of Nigerian languages.

    For the civil and criminal cases Bill, it seeks to provide for the alteration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Altered) to set time within which the matters are heard and determined at trial and appellate courts in order to eliminate unnecessary delays in justice administration and delivery.

    The bill states:”In any civil or criminal matter except in election petition, a trial superior court of record shall deliver its judgement in writing within 270 days from the date of the filing of civil or criminal matter. 

    “In any civil or criminal matter except in election petition, a trial inferior court of record or tribunal shall deliver its judgement in writing within 210 days from the date of the filing of the civil or criminal matter. 

    “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section – (a) a trial superior court of record may deliver its judgement in writing within 330 or more days having regard to the circumstances of the matter and in particular to the complexity of the matter, number of parties, number of witnesses, number of documents or other exceptional circumstances; and a trial inferior court of record may deliver its judgement in writing within 270 or more days having regard to the circumstances of the matter and in particular to the complexity of the matter, number of parties, number of witnesses, number of documents or other exceptional circumstances.

    “Appeal arising from a civil or criminal matter except in election petition shall be heard and judgement delivered in writing by an appellate court within 180 days from the date of filing of the appeal, or such number of days not exceeding 270 days, having regard to the circumstances of the appeal and in particular to the complexity of the appeal, calling of fresh evidence or other exceptional circumstances.”

    The treaties bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Altered) to provide for the involvement of the National Assembly in the process of negotiation for and entering into treaties with other countries. 

    The bill specifically seeks to amend the constitution by inserting new subsections in the Principal Act to allow the National Assembly make laws for the making of treaties between the Federation and any other country on any matter on the Exclusive Legislative List. 

    According to the draft, the President shall involve the National Assembly in the process of negotiation for and entering into all treaties on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with any other country.

    For the Bende bill, it seeks to alter the Constitution to provide for the creation of Bende North Local Government Area out the present Bende Local Government Area of Abia State and to rename the present Bende Local Government Area as Bende South Local Government Area of Abia State.

    According to the explanatory memorandum, the First Schedule to the Principal Act is altered in the second column of the first row showing Local Government Areas in Abia State by deleting the word “Bende” and inserting the words “Bende North, Bende South”.

    On the bill for listing of the National Assembly Service Commission and the State House of Assembly Service Commission as an Independent Bodies, it seeks to alter the Constitution to enhance their independence, and to clearly designate the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Clerks of the State Houses of Assembly as the Heads of Legislative Service at the national and subnational levels respectively.  

  • The answer to LGA third-tier fraud

    The answer to LGA third-tier fraud

    Again we are back to square one. While the celebration over July 11 Supreme Court judgment that granted financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas across the country lasted, not a few had wondered if the Supreme Court was not putting the cart before the horse by embarking on a judicial misadventure over what was unarguably a political issue. And now, the National Assembly, which but for its hypocrisy has the power to confront the nation’s demon, is bellyaching about sections 13, 14 and 16 of Anambra LGA new bill which seek to compel the local governments to pay their federal allocation into an account to be established by the state government, a bill it claims runs afoul of the Supreme Court judgment.

    Perhaps our National Assembly that that often treat Nigerian with less dignity than even the colonial masters, think Nigerians are suffering from collective amnesia since neither the said Supreme Court judgment nor the National Assembly has removed the constitutional power of the state Houses of Assembly to make laws for local government.

     One was however not surprised  that this was coming from Governor Chukwuma Soludo who, as CBN governor, called attention to the chicanery of our leaders with his “Nigeria is the only known federation in the world where the centre allocates funds to third tier of government it does not supervise”.

    The truth is that military arbitrarily created local government as third tier of government like the 36 states also created without logic or rhyme are a fraud by those driven by command and control military mind-set. If the fervour was about rural development, we did not see that play out during Babangida’s regime when most of the badly executed or abandoned DFFRI projects were cornered by retired military officers.

    And If it was to deepen democracy as Obasanjo wanted us to believe, very few will be persuaded that deepening democracy at grassroots level was by providing money, cars and logistics to feuding intra-party members to destroy their party or destabilise their state as he was reported to have done in Ekiti by ferrying a few members of state House of Assembly out of their states to Abuja to impeach their governors for opposing his third term bid has a familiar ring of fascism.

    It was not a surprise most of the professors Obasanjo dragged to his LGA’s ‘third tier crusade’, parted way with him when they discovered they had been used. Both Professor Ben Nwabueze and Chief Rotimi Williams who helped Obasanjo to destroy whatever was left of our federalism in 1979 by ceding almost 70% of the items in the constitution to the exclusive list with nothing in residual list publicly regretted betraying the country before their passage to the great beyond.

    The tragedy of our nation is that unlike the unambitious set of leaders we have had since 1999, Nigeria once had selfless and visionary leaders for whom the nation came first. Ex-president Jonathan acknowledged this during his 51st independence anniversary by “thanking our founding fathers  who brought  joy and hope to the hearts of our people  after six decades of colonial rule  by working together to  restore dignity and honour  to a multicultural and multilingual nation of diverse people with more than 250 distinct languages and ethnic groups”.

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    This they achieved in spite of the initial lack of consensus on the national question with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and his group canvassing for unitary system, Obafemi Awolowo and his Yoruba group insisting on federalism while Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who believed “Nigerian unity is a British invention” and Ahmadu Bello who expressed grief over “the mistake of 1914” settled for confederacy.  But at the end, realizing their responsibility to those that look up to them for direction, these illustrious Nigerian pathfinders settled for a federal arrangement that allowed groups to develop at their own pace.

    Unfortunately, nearly all northern governors have since 1999 been opposed to returning the country to a federal arrangement, a social system that promises ‘unity in diversity’, justice and fairness. The reasoning behind the northern governors short-sightedness is that the north because of its numerical advantage in the number of states and LGAs, not only collect more free monies from the federation account, but gives it a veto power over any form of constitutional amendment.

    But for refusing to confront our demon, everyone is a loser. Nuhu Ribadu some two years back had challenged these northern leaders to show how billions of naira collected from the federation account since 1999 have impacted on the lives of the poor in the north. It is in this regard, one can also ask the Niger Delta’s self-serving leaders who many believe are behind oil bunkering, if lives of ordinary people of the Niger Delta are better today than in 1999 when they first embarked on economic sabotage of the country. And what has been the fate of ordinary people in the Southwest and Southeast where governors surreptitiously worked against restructuring of the country for fear of losing easy money coming from Abuja which they often deploy towards ‘building bridges over land?

    Again, for the sake of our uninformed youths, we must go through history our leaders want to supplant with revisionism which celebrates criminals as heroes.

    Between 1962 and 1963, the constitution bequeathed onto us by our founding fathers was breached by NPC/NCNC coalition partners of Prime Minister Balewa, President Nnamdi Azikiwe and Premiers Ahmadu Bello and Okpara, who jointly refused to recognise Dauda Soroye Adegbenro, the duly elected and Privy Council recognized Premier of Western Region. That paved the way for the incarceration of Obafemi Awolowo, the setting back of the giant strides made by the West and the installation of Ladoke Akintola as premier by the coalition partners without election. Anarchy was let loose on the west when those denied the right to determine their own fate decided to make sure those who sowed the wind reaped the whirlwind through ‘operation wet e’.

    While the west was burning, the north buried its fangs on the neck of the east after the disputed 1962/63 census exercises and the massively rigged 1964 election. Zik as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces had approached the military for support but was reminded that operationally, the military reports to the prime minister. Zik while pretending to be going for medical check-up but in reality embarked on ship cruise to South America, after  handing power over to Dr Nwafor Orizu, the Senate President.

    In January 1966, Igbo young military adventurers sympathetic to Zik, in breach of the military espirit de corps, selectively murdered  their friends, about eight northern senior military officers and their political leaders, two western senior military leaders and their premier while conveniently sparing their over 30 Igbo military officers and Igbo political leaders.

    Aguiyi Ironsi after quashing the insurrection took over power with the help of the Senate President who according to Richard Akinjide, refused to swear in the next available minister in the absence of the prime minister as stipulated by the constitution.

    Ironsi’s greatest undoing was the promulgation of Decree 34 which turned the country from a federal into a unitary state. That was quickly interpreted as an Igbo agenda having canvassed for a unitary system during the various constitutional debate from 1954 up to the 1957 London Constitutional Conference where NCNC leaders insisted Nigeria should be divided into a federation of 17 provinces which Awolowo claimed would amount to bringing unitary system through the back door.

    In July 1966, another set of adventurers led by Murtala Mohammed, Danjuma, Babangida,  and others initiated their vengeance coup called Araba (secession) during which all Ibo military officers on sight were brutally murdered.

    At the end the civil war that followed, successive northern military leaders created more states and LGAs for the north thus making northern leaders the 1950 Nigeria they could control a fait accompli.

    The way forward is not through a third tier fraud or unviable states created without rhyme. The cheapest and tested option before us is to confront our demons by embracing a federation of six geo-political zones as canvassed by Nigerian stakeholders including leaders of ethnic nationalities, the true owners of Nigeria.

    This is the answer to distributive injustice in the South-south, tribal war over control of political power and resources on the in the Northwest, Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast and  the apparent ethnic cleansing in the North-central where majority of our compatriots live in IDP camps in their own country.

    And as for our embattled President Tinubu who voluntarily offered himself a sacrificial lamb after 58 years of crisis of nation-building, he has a choice as to whether he wants to be remembered as a Nigerian statesman or like his predecessors including Buhari, the best statesman we never had.

  • Senate: states must comply fully with S’Court judgment on council autonomy

    Senate: states must comply fully with S’Court judgment on council autonomy

    • Motion forces Red Chamber into closed session

    The Senate yesterday resolved that states and local governments must fully comply with the Supreme Court judgment on financial autonomy for councils.

    It also resolved to tinker with the Constitution to streamline its positions on local government administration in line with the July 11 judgment of the apex court.

    The decision came with its own drama which played out in the Red Chamber during plenary.

    The drama started when some senators raised points of order during the debate on the motion sponsored by Senator Tony Nwoye (Anambra North) and seconded by nine others.

    Following what appeared to be near confusion, the Senate went into an emergence closed door session for two hours.

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    When it reverted to an open session, two prayers were put on the table.

    They were carried after a voice vote.

    The prayers were moved by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.

    Barau said: “Mr. President, based on the deliberation that was made by this August Senate in the just concluded executive session, I stand to move on behalf of this Senate, for the approval of two prayers in respect of the motion that was brought by Senator Tony Nwoye (Anambra North), thereby discarding the earlier prayers in the motion as brought by the mover.

    “The two prayers are as follows: All states and local governments to fully comply with the recent Supreme Court judgment on the disbursement of and utilisation of funds accruing to all local governments in Nigeria.

    “That the Senate ensures alterations to the relevant provisions of the Constitution to provide for the full autonomy of the local governments in Nigeria.”

    The first prayer was seconded by Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central). The second was by Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno North).

    The motion moved by Nwoye is tittled:  “Urgent need to prevent and stop implementation of actions of State Governments using their State Houses of Assembly to enact laws that breach constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court judgment on granting financial autonomy to local governments in line with the provisions of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”

    In his lead debate, Nwoye drew the attention of his colleagues to attempts by some state governments to circumvent the July 11 judgment of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to local governments by enacting new laws to enable them to continue to withhold or deduct the funds of local governments in contravention of the recent apex court judgment on financial autonomy of LGAs.

    He expressed concern that the “Modus Operandi of subverting this financial autonomy of Local Governments by State Governments through their Houses of Assembly is to insert clauses in their laws requiring the Local Governments upon receipt of their allocation from the Federation Account to remit all or majority or substantial portion of their allocation to a dedicated account which the State Governments will keep, control, manage or disburse for them, using some nomenclatures like state/LGA joint account, state/LGA Consolidated revenue account, Local Government Joint Security Trust account etc.”

    Anambra State, from where Nwoye hails, is the first state where the House of Assembly passed a Bill authorising councils to put money into a joint account with the state government for common projects.

    The Supreme Court had ruled that governors cannot retain money intended for local government  administrations because it is unconstitutional.

    Additionally, the Supreme Court prohibited governors from dissolving the nation’s democratically elected local government councils as it ruled that doing so would violate the 1999 Constitution.

    The emergency session was called by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, following a constitutional point of order by Senator Adamu Aliero while the debate was on.

    Aliero had cited Section 287 of the Constitution and urged the Senate to suspend debate on the motion to the effect that since the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, its judgments were binding on all relevant institutions without any need for push or assistance by the Senate.

    “Supreme Court judgment is enforceable across the country. There is no need for us to be debating anything that has to do with it here,” Aliero said.

    While sustaining the point of order raised by Aliero, Akpabio corroborated him, saying that as a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Akwa Ibom State, he is abreast with Section 162, Sub-section 6 of the Constitution which provides for state and local government joint account at the subnational level.

    “I think what we need to do is to carry out required amendments of certain provisions of the constitution as far as local government autonomy is concerned,” Akpabio said.

    At this point, Nwoye raised Order 42 of the Senate Standing Rules for personal explanation on the motion while Senator Summaila Kawu (NNPP, Kano South) also raised a similar point of order.

    These points of orders prompted confusion in the chamber, with many senators rushing to the Senate President for personal consultation.

    Following this development, Akpabio signaled to Barau and other principal officers to “approach the chair” (a term for asking them to come closer to the Senate President).

    After conferring with them for about 10 minutes, Barau and the principal officers returned  to their seats while Akpabio announced that the Senate had decided to resolve into a closed door session to deliberate further on the matter.

  • Local government system and crisis of federalism

    Local government system and crisis of federalism

    SIR: The landmark judgment of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy creates a side-line solution to a constitutional crisis on the structure of Nigeria’s federalism. Whereas the judgment reflects the aspiration of many Nigerians on local government autonomy, it is important to situate it within the context and intendment of Section 7(1) which provides that “…accordingly, the government, of every state shall subject to section 8 of this constitution, ensure their (local government) existence under a law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”; and Section 162(6) that “each states shall maintain special account to be called “State Join Local Government Account” into which shall be paid ALL ALLOCATIONS to the local government councils of the state from the Federation Account and from the Government of the state.”.

    Without questioning the wisdom of the learned Justices, the following questions are pertinent: is the local government a component of Nigeria’s federalism? Is the judgment in consonance with the intendment of the provisions of Section 7(1) and 162(6) as earlier referenced? Is the Supreme Court likely to reverse itself in the nearest possible future as has been suggested by some critics of the judgment, particularly in a case that a different Attorney General of the Federation decides to approach the apex for such review?

    These questions are fundamental, given that in the determination of who has the power to make laws in regard to local government councils in Nigeria, the Supreme Court had in A.G Abia State v A.G Federation, held that state governments have jurisdiction over local government areas due to Section 7(1), Section 197 and item 22 of the Second Schedule part 1 of the Constitution. According to the court, the exception to this is in relation to laws made by a state House of Assembly on local government elections, which must not be inconsistent with any law made by the National Assembly on the same subject matter as envisaged by item 11 and 12 of the Concurrent Legislative List.

    Whereas the answer to the first questions demands deepened democratic dialogue, the last question is likely to be in the affirmative, given the complex conflicts of Nigeria’s politics. In the case of the latter, and for the sustainable future of our democracy, it is safer for the Presidency to leverage on the judgment to seek the amendment of Section 7, Section 162 and items 11 and 12 of the concurrent legislative lists to seek periodic and regular elections, local government autonomy, and ensure rational legislation at the subnational level for the effective administration of the local government councils.

    The appreciable judicial activism of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy is now a subsisting law, but for the judgment to stand the test of time, it needs a legislative lifeline in amending the identified relevant provisions of the Constitution. Consequently, the president must send an executive bill for the amendment of the aforementioned Sections of the Constitution. The Bola Tinubu presidency is already defined by some bold structural steps on restructuring Nigeria, local government reform will definitely be a core of this history if conclusively pursued.

    Read Also:‘668 local governments have no websites’

    On the structure of our federalism, I am compelled to argue that we need a system that reflects our current socio-economic realities and development demands. More than 65% of Nigerians live in rural areas where local government councils are meant to have development impact. It is only rational for the scale of good reasoning to weigh towards the logic that the local government system as recognized by Section 162(3) in the outlined tiers of government for the ‘amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account to be distributed – federal, state and local governments’, deserves a constitutional life as a complementary tier of government, complementary to the state government, but not a competing component against the states.

    The proposed bill on “National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission” is likely to further create institutional crisis. Elections hold in each polling units in Nigeria every four years, it will only take INEC extra ballot papers and not logistics, to include local government election for chairmen and ward councillors, during general elections. To truly localize democracy and governance, the people must be involved as envisaged by the Constitution under Section 14 (2)(C) that “the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.

    It is time for the people to exercise their right as “employer” of public officials, to constant demand for account of service and when necessary, exercise the unfettered right to terminate the employment of their representatives, through recall processes.

    • Ekpa, Stanley Ekpa  ekpastanleyekpa@gmail.com
  • ‘668 local governments have no websites’

    ‘668 local governments have no websites’

    Only seven out of the 774 local governments have active websites, it was revealed yesterday.

    Four of the councils with active websites are in Oyo State. They are: Afijio; Akinyele; Atiba and Atisbo.

    Others are: Abeokuta North (Ogun State); Abi (Cross River) and Ado-Odo/Ota (Ogun State);

    The websites scored a mere 31.25 per cent out of 100 per cent based on their integrity and citizen engagement, according to a recent assessment.

    However, they scored zero in critical areas such as financial transparency, procurement procedures and anti-corruption measures.

    The information is contained in a presentation made by Budget Foundation (Budgit) during a policy dialogue hosted by Agora Policy and its partners in Abuja on Monday, focused on “Enthroning accountability in local governance in Nigeria.”

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    According to Budgit, between July 2014 and June 2024, a total of N17.5 trillion has been disbursed to Local Government Areas across Nigeria.

    To put this into perspective, this amount is almost equivalent to the revenue realised by the Federal Government from 2015 to 2020, which stood at N17.9 trillion.

    Despite this substantial funding, governance issues persist at the local level. Before a recent Supreme Court ruling, 462 local government areas in 22 states were administered by caretaker committees appointed by governors, in violation of Section 7 of the Nigerian Constitution.

    Since the ruling, only Adamawa, Delta and Ebonyi states have conducted local government elections. The polls were held last month.

    The apex court verdict has led to a rush to conduct council polls, raising concerns about the integrity of these processes.

    Some of the states where caretaker committees hold the fort at the grassroots are: Rivers, Anambra, Imo, Kwara, Zamfara, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Benue, Bauchi, Plateau, Abia, Enugu, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto and Jigawa.

    Local government areas are burdened, yet, they are the least trusted, least engaged and least capacitated tier of government.

    According to an Afrobarometer survey from 2008, confidence in local government officials dropped from 58 per cent in 2000 to 28 per cent in 2008.

    Only 18 per cent of respondents felt that councils allowed citizen participation in decision-making, 22 per cent of local government resources used for public purposes and only 20 per cent of the said councils provided information on their budgets.

    Additionally, 75 per cent of respondents had never contacted their councilors, and 89 per cent believed that some, most, or all council employees were corrupt.

    This lack of interest and trust in local governments is reflected in the public’s engagement with their local representatives.

    Many citizens are unaware of their councilors’ names, show little interest in LGA operations, and do not aspire to work within the LGAs.

    Mr. Waziri Adio, Founder of Agora Policy, argued that “getting local government areas to work optimally will be critical to getting Nigeria to work better.

    He said: “Local Government areas are very important and deserve to be taken more seriously by all of us. I will argue that it is the most important tier of government, closest to the people, where they should feel the government the most.}

    The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, stressed the commission’s dedication to scrutinising local government activities and preventing “business as usual.”

    In a message delivered by Mr. Friday Ebelo, the EFCC chair highlighted the importance of accountability, transparency, and citizen participation for good governance, calling for development-minded individuals in local administrations to make governance impactful, particularly in healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

    Former Youths and Sports Minister, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that a Supreme Court ruling would affect true federalism but expressed concerns about placing the critical education sector under the weakest tier of government.

    He noted that competence, rather than theft, is a significant issue and called for improved capacity at the local government level to avoid potential future regrets.

  • Electoral commission for local governments

    Electoral commission for local governments

    Opinion is divided on the push for a separate and centrally administered electoral commission for the nation’s 774 local government areas.

    The debate followed the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy, which tends to have limited, to a large extent, the state government’s control over the third tier.

    The Senate is discussing a Bill, titled: “National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission (NILGEC) and other matters (Establishment) Bill, 2024,” sponsored by its Finance Committee Chairman Sani Musa, a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Niger East District. If the bill scales through and is assented to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) set up by state governments for council polls may be outlawed.

    The aims and objectives of the proposed local government commission, as highlighted by Senator Musa, are similar to those of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    These include conducting free, fair, and transparent elections to elect local government chairmen and councillors, preparing and maintaining an accurate and up-to-date voters’ register, and ensuring voter education and public awareness towards the electoral process.

    The proposed agency will set and enforce electoral guidelines and regulations for council elections, recruit and train electoral officers and workers for efficient election management, monitor and supervise all electoral activities and processes at the council level, investigate and adjudicate electoral disputes and grievances.

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    The proposed NILGEC is expected to operate independently, free from external influence and interference; with its budget, approved by the National Assembly, to ensure financial independence.

    The electoral body shall announce the election schedule, at least, six months before the election, and define and enforce penalties for electoral offenses, including but not limited to voter fraud, ballot stuffing, and electoral violence.

    When established, “all powers and functions related to the conduct of local government elections previously vested in any other body or authority shall be transferred to NILGEC”.

    The apex court’s verdict on financial autonomy and conduct of council polls by NILGEC, if approved, may decorate local government as lower-level federating units of an inexplicable federation once characterised by three and later, four regions, and much later, military-created 36 states, as presumed or perceived federating units.

    Supporters of a separate umpire for conducting council polls believe that the commission would be independent, unbiased, more assertive, and more credible than the current 36 states’ Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).

    However, those who have reservations about it contend that the country may gradually move from its meagre devolution to a higher degree of centralisation, although they never doubt the prospects of electoral efficiency and resultant free and fair council polls.

    Their other observation is that the establishment of a separate electoral commission for local governments would entail tinkering with the constitution, which has given legal backing to SIECs and state authorities to organise and supervise council polls.

    Section Seven of the 1999 Constitution gives the local government system a legal impetus. The section provides that “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the government of every state shall, subject to Section Eight of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance, and functions of such councils”.

    Section 3 Part II of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution makes provision for the establishment of SIEC. Section 4 of the Constitution gives SIECs the powers to organise, undertake and supervise all elections to local government councils within the state and to render such advice as it may consider necessary to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including the compilation and registration of voters as long as the register applies to local government elections in the state.

    The above provisions show that INEC is superior to SIEC because the latter still depends on the voter register prepared by INEC although INEC does not perform any regulatory functions over SIEC.

    The constitutional interpretation is that while the Federal Government has constitutional power to constitute the membership of INEC, as contained in Section 154 of the 1999 Constitution, the same power is given to governors for the composition of SIEC, as contained in Section 3 of Part II of the Constitution.

    Unlike INEC, which has an organisational structure comprising a Chairman and National Commissioners, SIEC has “a chairman; and not less than five but not more than seven other persons”.

    But while all attention has been on the five elections conducted by INEC – the presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, governorship, and House of Assembly; the polls conducted by SIEC – chairmanship and councillorship, have never generated widespread attention.

    The reasons are not far-fetched. Many stakeholders believe that local government poll results are predictable; the governor’s party often wins the poll by a landslide. Conceding defeat in some wards or councils means ceding some councils to opposition parties. To the ruling parties, it is a taboo. It is the height of political intolerance. In most cases, the grassroots elections are usually boycotted by opposition parties.

    Besides, experts have often complained about the lack of capacity and autonomy by SIEC as politicians may even be appointed as SIEC members. In many states, local government elections are conducted reluctantly by governors. They are inclined towards setting up caretaker or transition committees comprising their associates and lackeys.

    There is no uniformity in Nigeria’s local government system. While the chairmen and councillors enjoy a four-year tenure in some states, other states have chairmen and councilors with three or two-year tenures. While the Federal Government cannot dissolve a state government, many governors, until the recent court judgment, indulged in sacking elected council functionaries at will. The reluctance to conduct council polls has become a political culture in many states. It is inherited and transferred to successors. Some critics have rejected the economic factor cited as the reason. But the truth is that since state governments feed fat on the local governments’ allocations, conducting polls may reduce such opportunities. Thus, the poor financial status of some state governments does not predispose them to organising elections.

    Indisputably, security challenges, particularly in some trouble spots in the North, may not motivate state governments to take council polls as a priority.

    If NILGEC is established, Nigeria would be retracing its steps to the pre-Third Republic era of political experimentation but with a minor difference. The difference is that while the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Eme Awa conducted council polls with success, the responsibility will not be performed by a separate body appointed by the President. This may be due to the feeling that INEC may not be able to cope with the expansion of electoral responsibilities to cover local governments.

    In December 1990, the defunct NEC conducted the first nationwide local government election on a party basis, building on the success recorded during previous council polls in 1989 on a non-party basis.

    Many Nigerians hailed the electoral body, saying the election was very peaceful, adding that rigging was minimal, compared to previous polls. 

    The implication is that when a central election management body conducts council polls, its outcome can be more transparent and credible than polls conducted by the SIEC.

    However, while many polls conducted by SIEC may not have passed the integrity test, it should also be noted that not all the elections conducted by INEC in this dispensation were devoid of controversy.

    In Nigeria, where politicians never readily accept the outcome of elections, however transparent it might have been, would NILGEC be able to cope with numerous post-election litigations across the country?

    There are other puzzles: if NILGEC comes on board, will it also conduct elections into the smaller local units, the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), and area councils? These LCDAS are not listed in the constitution. They were legitimately and legally created, but the process, according to the Supreme Court, is inchoate. What would be their fate?

    Does it not also have an implication for the practice of federalism when the conduct of the grassroots election is centralised but not decentralised?

  • Local Governments under criticism as Awujale marks 85th birthday

    The Local Government structure in Nigeria came under heavy criticism as speakers called for its dismantling at the 3rd annual lecture of the Oba Dr. Sikiru Kayode Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance.

    At the lecture titled ‘Grassroots governance: the soft underbelly of Nigeria’s political architecture’ to commemorate Awujale’s birthday, which held at the Adeola Odutola Hall, Ijebu Ode at the weekend various speakers asserted that Local Governments have failed woefully in doing the work for which they were created, which is helping to alleviate poverty at the grassroots through social development.

    “Rather than doing that”, regretted Professor Ayo Olukotun, Head Department of Political Science Olabisi Onabanjo  University and current occupier of the Oba Adetona Professorial Chair, “the local government is serving as money conduit pipe for the officers and the political fathers that installed them”.

    Professor Kingsley Moghalu, former Presidential candidate also called for the total dismantling of LG. He said that the real issue of failure in the country is the question of the long delayed restructuring of the 1999 constitution. “Without restructuring Nigeria, we can never get the LGs right.

    Also speaking, Professor Remi Sonaiya, the only female presidential candidate in the last election, one of the discussants, while also agreeing that the LG structures in Nigeria should be dismantled stressed on the need for awareness creation in the LGs. “We must educate our people of their civic responsibilities. They should demand accountability and better services from those that rule them.

    Speaking at the event, the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga stated that the annual lecture is a legacy that should be sustained over time. “This is arguably one of the most generous initiatives in the country so far, it should be cherished and key stakeholders need to join in to give their supports so we can ensure this stays forever in our country”.

    Responding, Oba Adetona thanked guests for honouring him, revealing that he is optimistic that Nigeria would benefit from the initiative and enjoined other well-meaning people to lend their support to a good cause.

    Oba Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland regretted that LGs were not what they used to be and what they were created  for. “They positively impacted lives before but now, the revise is the case”.

     

  • APC panel proposes power devolution

    APC panel proposes power devolution

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) panel on restructuring has recommended devolution of power to states and the scrapping of local governments as a tier of government.

    It recommended resource control, state police, independent candidacy and merger of states.

    Panel chairman and Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai submitted its report  to National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun in Abuja yesterday.

    Oyegun said with the report the APC’s stance on true federalism and restructuring are clear, adding: “this is the totality of our views, but it is still going to go through the mill.”

    El-Rufai said the panel collated the views of Nigerians, especially party members, which were mostly reflected in the report.

    He said: “The first item that we felt needed legislative action is the merger of states. It is pertinent to note that only 36 per cent of Nigerians wants more states created while majority of Nigerians don’t want more states. For us, since the creation of states is already in the constitution,  there is no action needed than to implement that.

    “So, the first recommendation for which we have proposed a draft bill for constitutional amendment is the merger of states. Though there was no consensus from stakeholders on the merger of states, we felt that we should propose a bill that allows states to merge and it is left for the National Assembly, the party and the people of Nigeria to decide on that.

    “On derivation principle, it is recommended that the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission Act be amended to vest it with the power to periodically review the derivation formula and make recommendations to the President who shall table the same before the National Assembly for necessary action.

    “On fiscal federalism and revenue allocation, we propose an amendment to sub-section two of the constitution to give more revenue to the states and reduce the Federal Government’s share.

    “There was overwhelming popular demand that there should be devolution of power to the states and the committee recommended same. We have recommended that the first schedule, part one and two be amended to transfer some powers to the states.”

    The committee also recommended that states be allowed to have their own police.

    Oil and other mineral resources, said the committee, should be left to the control of the states where they are located. Offshore resources should be owned by the Federal Government.

    The committee proposed the amendment of the first schedule to the constitution to ensure that names of local government councils are removed from the constitution. States should be allowed to create and fund their own local governments.

    El-Rufai said the committee recognised the fact that the country was operating a federal system. He described as an aberration, having more than two tiers of government as federating units in a federal system.

    El-Rufai said: “Local government autonomy is a very interesting subject in which we were surprised at the outcome. There were divergent opinions on this issue. We recommend that the current system of local government administration provided for by the constitution should be amended and that states should be allowed to develop and enact laws to have local government administration system that is peculiar to each of them.

    “What we heard from Nigerians is that as far as local government is concerned, there is no one size fits for all. We all come from different histories, different cultures, different administrative systems and we believe that the constitution should ensure that there is a democratic local government system in every state. But the details of, and the nature of that local government system, the number of local governments should be left to the states and states houses of assembly.

    “We propose amendment to Sections 7, 8, 162, the first schedule, part one and the first schedule of the constitution to give effect to our recommendations. The section that lists the local governments and their headquarters should be removed so that local governments are no longer named in the constitution.

    “States can create their local governments and determine the structure of their local governments. We are, by this, recognising that in a federal system, you cannot have more than two tiers of government. Having three tiers of government is an aberration. There is nowhere in the world where our research has shown us that you have more than two federating units.

    On resources control, the governor said: “We have proposed that mining, minerals, oil should go to the states. Then there will be certain constitutional amendments.

    “The Petroleum Act will be amended to show that states can now issue oil mining licences; the Land Use Act, Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act, the Petroleum Profit Tax Act 2007 would all need to be amended. So, we have proposed amendment that will ensure that minerals, mining and oil are vested in the states except offshore minerals.”

    The committee recommended a constitutional amendment to allow for a referendum to be conducted on burning national or state issues before decisions are taken. Now, the constitution has no room for referendum, but only in the creation of states.

    On independence candidacy, the committee recommended that anybody who wants to contest an election as an independent candidate should not have to be a member of any registered political party six months prior to the election the person wants to contest as a candidate.

    El-Rufai said: “On independent candidacy, the committee notes that majority of respondents were opposed, surprisingly, to independent candidacy. However, the committee still recommends that the party should support the demand for widening the political space by allowing for independent candidacy.

    “We believe that having independent candidates with necessary safeguards will make the political parties to be more honest and more democratic. So, because majority of the respondents were against independent candidacy, we took note of the fact that most of those that took interest in our deliberations were party members. We therefore believe that widening the political space is consistent with APC’s and the President’s commitment and we have made recommendations but with very strict conditions.

    “We have included in the bill to allow for independent candidacy that no one who wants to run as an independent candidate should be a member of a political party six months to the election. What it meant is that you cannot be a member of a political party, lose primaries and then go ahead to run as an independent candidate. You have to make up your mind six months to the elections that none of the parties is good enough and you want to run as an independent candidate.

    “We have put this safeguard to ensure that independent candidacy is not a platform for opportunism, but a deliberate, passionate decision, not an emotional one. We have put four safeguards.

    “One, any person who desires to stand as an independent candidate must not be a registered member of any political party at least six months before the election in which he intends to contest. Two, his nominators must also not be members of any registered political party. Three, the said candidate must pay a deposit to INEC in the same range as the non-refundable deposit payable by candidates sponsored by political parties through their parties.

    “So instead of paying to the parties, you now pay to INEC. If a governorship candidate pays one million to his party, you must pay one million to INEC to stand as an independent candidate.

    He went on: “On citizenship, the issue of local government or state of origin is discriminatory and should be replaced with state of residence. It is around this that we have proposed an amendment to the Federal Character Commission Act to allow people domiciled in a place to be considered as indigenes.

    “We have proposed an amendment to create the State Judicial Council that will appoint and discipline judges within a state while the National Judicial Council will exercise control over the appointment, discipline of judges of the federal government only.

    “We have proposed the creation of the state court of appeal so that from the High Court, you can first appeal to the state court of appeal before it goes to the Supreme Court of the federation. Again, this is consistent with federal practice all over the world.”

    Oyegun said: “I‘m going to promise that before the middle of February, it would have been considered and decided upon by the major structures of this party, the NEC, the Caucus of the party. And whatever is thereafter agreed will be presented to the authorities as the considered views and decisions of the APC for appropriate implementation.”

  • Local governments are important   

    SIR: Local Governments in Nigeria ideally should be the first point of developmental strides; they are to be the backbone of development in Nigeria.  It is continuous underdevelopment in rural areas that is causing the rise of migration from rural areas to urban areas.  When the rural areas are   relatively developed, we won’t be having population explosion in the urban areas.

    Many people are wondering whether local governments are still viable in the country. In my own view, they are still needed, they are still important to our national growth; they only need to be strengthened.  The heads of the councils should be more accountable to the people, leaders with grassroots background should be chosen, the ones with grassroots background are in touch with realities and problems the people in the local area are facing; this will help the leaders to come up with solutions to the problems easily as they already know the root of the problems.

    As much as we want more power to be given to local government to be independent, to oversees it staff, to have financial powers in order to execute projects and complement the efforts of other arms of the government, we should bear in mind that there is need for proper checks and balance regarding the activities of local governments in Nigeria.

     

    • Ahmed Haruna Tswata,

    Minna ,Niger State.

  • Sanusi to govts: Focus on agriculture

    Sanusi to govts: Focus on agriculture

    The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, has urged the Federal, state and Local governments to focus on agriculture to boost food production in the country.

    Sanusi made the call when he delivered his traditional Eid-el Kabir message shortly after the Eid prayer at the Kofar Mata Eid praying ground in Kano metropolis on Monday.

    He said agriculture would provide job opportunities for the unemployed youths and ensure food security in the country.

    According to him, there is also the need for the Federal Government to construct additional dams across the country to enhance dry season farming for massive production of cash and food crops.

    He said constructing more dams was necessary in view of the fact that most of the developed countries had for long stopped depending on wet season farming.

    Sanusi urged wealthy Muslims to support the less privileged persons in the society in order to alleviate their sufferings, especially during the current economic recession in the country.

    He, however, called on Nigerians irrespective of their religious beliefs and political inclination to continue to pray for economic growth and development in the country.

    He also called for continuous prayers for economic growth and prosperity in the country.

    NAN reports that the Eid prayer which was led by Sanusi was attended by the Acting Governor, Prof Hafiz Abubakar, members of the state executive council and other traditional rulers from the 44 local government areas.

    The Eid prayer was conducted peacefully across the various Eid grounds in the state.