NASS to work with AGF to ensure “real elections” at local government level—Akpabio

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, says the National Assembly will work with the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to address the lack of confidence in elections conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC).

Mr Akpabio spoke to journalists on Thursday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement, affirmed the autonomy of local government and directed that the third tier of government should be paid directly from the federation account.

The Supreme Court also ruled that caretaker committees and similar arrangements are illegal.

Mr Akpabio, who attended the meeting alongside the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, said opposition parties at the state level are often lethargic about elections at the local level because of a lack of trust.

“So, it is a great thing that the Supreme Court has done the needful, and now we have to go back and think—working with the AGF office and the parliament to see how we can ensure that there’s a real election at the LG levels.

“I think once that is done, everybody will have confidence, and that is progress for democracy, and that is how it should be,” the senate president said.

Mr Akpabio did not provide details on how the elections at the local government level will be improved.

He also maintained that the National Assembly will review the judgement and make necessary legislative adjustments to complement the ruling of the Supreme Court on the matter.

Lack of trust in SIECs

The level of confidence in the elections conducted by SIECs in almost all states is low because the outcomes of the elections often favour the ruling party at the state level.

Many have called for the transfer of the conduct of local government elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Fagbemi also recently raised the issue while speaking at a dialogue organised by the House of Representatives on state police. However, the federal government has not officially announced its position on the matter.

The transfer of local government elections to INEC will require constitutional alterations because SIEC is a creation of the 1999 Constitution.

Governors must respect the Supreme Court’s ruling

Mr Akpabio also urged the state governors to respect the verdict of the Supreme Court, noting that the National Assembly will also ensure compliance.

“The Supreme Court has spoken, and we have no option other than to abide by the Supreme Court ruling. So, I will just call on all states of the federation to respect what the Supreme Court has done, and then we will go back to the legislature and see where we can dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s to ensure full implementation,” he said.

LGs are free from excesses of governors—Speaker

In his remarks, Mr Tajudeen said the Supreme Court judgement has finally addressed a problem that the parliament tried to address in the past 20 years.

He stated that the National Assembly has tried to provide local government autonomy through the constitution alteration route, but it has never worked. He added that members of the House are very happy with the outcome.

“The members have been very happy because history has been made. This is an issue that has been before Parliament for the past 20 years.

“Of all the constitutional amendments that were so far carried out by the National Assembly, one aspect of it has always been local government autonomy. How do we make the LG work independently?

“Today, that impossibility became a reality, everyone is happy, and we are looking forward to LGs that will work functionally, and that will be able to work on their own and extend goodwill to their people undisturbed by the excesses of the state governors.”