Recent local government elections failed integrity test— YIAGA Africa

A civil society organisation, Yiaga Africa, says some of the recent local government elections held across the country failed election integrity tests.

It also announced plans to release a comprehensive report on some of the council polls at the end of October.

The group stated this in a statement on Monday in Africa.

In the statement, YIAGA described some of the elections as a “travesty”, stressing that they failed the integrity test.

“Most of the recently held local elections are a travesty of democratic elections and fall short of electoral integrity standards,” the group stated.

Latest infographics on local government polls by YIAGA Africa

Latest infographics on local government polls by YIAGA Africa

Most state governments have rushed to conduct elections in their respective local governments following the Supreme Court verdict on the autonomy of that tier of government.

One of the other far-reaching decisions of the Supreme Court was the declaration of the appointment of caretaker committees as illegal.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdicts, only eight states, of the 36 states, have yet to conduct elections for the local governments. They are: Kogi, Kano, Osun, Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Ogun and Ondo States.

Stop interfering in SIEC activities— YIAGA tells governors

YIAGA also called on state executives to stop meddling in the activities of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), which are charged with conducting elections in local governments.

The organisation noted that state commissions must guard their constitutionally guaranteed responsibilities by remaining impartial.

“As more states prepare for their upcoming local elections, we call on the executive to refrain from interfering with the operations of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs),” YIAGA stated.

“We also urge SIECs to assert their partial constitutional independence to conduct credible elections. Strict adherence to established guidelines is essential for ensuring the validity and integrity of local government elections,” the organisation added.

We must extend reforms to local governments

While announcing plans to release the report on all the recent elections, YIAGA noted the need to reform the electoral space at the local level.

The organisation explained that “to harness the benefits of the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments, it is crucial to extend electoral reform to local government elections to liberate SIECs from the stronghold of state governors by safeguarding their operational and financial independence.

“Our report will be based on the Local Government Elections Index we recently developed,” the statement reads.

Concerns have been raised about the integrity of the outcomes of local government elections organised by SIECs, as most ruling parties in the states have won the majority of positions in all these elections.

The inability of state electoral commissions to conduct credible elections has led to calls from some quarters for INEC to take over the exercise.