Stakeholders in Nigeria’s politics and governance have bemoaned the ways in which many local government elections have been conducted in some states across the country since the Supreme Court’s authorisation of financial autonomy for the third tier of government.
While describing processes employed by the State Independent Electoral Commissions in the polls as a show of shame and mockery of democracy, the concerned groups averred that the collapse of local government administration is at hand if nothing is done to change the narratives.
The stakeholders made this known while reviewing the local government elections held in the country recently at a stakeholders forum organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, Justice, Development & Peace Makers’ Centre, Osogbo ahead of the forthcoming 2025 Osun LG election.
The stakeholders including Independent National Electoral Commission, Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, security agencies, religious leaders, civil society organisations, youths, women in politics, Inter-Party Advisory Council, state government representatives, election management experts among others, concluded that there is more to be done by state governors and SIECs if democracy, good governance and financial autonomy would be entrenched at local government administration in the country.
For JDPMC, the local government polls witnessed in some states after the apex court judgment on financial autonomy were only conducted for the state governments to access the federal allocation accrued to local government areas and not for advancement of democracy and good governance.
The General Coordinator of the faith-based organization, Rev Fr Peter Akinkunmi, expressed concerns over the shabby and haphazard methods applied by SIECs at the recently held elections in some states across the country, urging Osun SIEC to right the wrongs and set good example in the conduct of council polls.
Dwelling on the theme for the high level stakeholders dialogue programme: “The Evolution of Election in Osun State: The Preparedness of OSIEC and All Stakeholders Towards a Credible and Transparent 2025 LGA Election in Osun State,” Akinkunmi mentioned that most Nigerians don’t have interest in politics and governance because of collapse of local government politics and administration.
He said local councils have not been working effectively as a result of “the past and likely continuous abuse of outrageous regulatory power that the constitution gave to the state government over the affairs of LGAs, adding that JDPMC gathered stakeholders to discuss what can be done to make things work despite obvious challenges.
“Today, when the majority of Nigerians reflect on, aggregate, and seek to invest their time and resources to reinforcing those factors that they think will impact positively on their real lives, politics or governance hardly make the list. One of the major reasons is simply because the collapse of local government politics and administration has molded governance into a mere mental intangible concept that touches nothing in our real-life experience as a people since return to democracy.
“Yet it is mainly through the LG politics and administration that governance directly involves the people and touches the lives of citizens at the primary or fundamental level right from their communities into the more complex structure of society.
“We must admit that some of the factors I have alluded to earlier and many more have weakened the interest of the majority of the stakeholders understandably to the exclusion of the political class. We need our LGAs to function democratically, transparently, and responsibly. The foundation of this lies in the leadership recruitment process,” Akinkunmi said while addressing participants.
He lamented worsening apathy during LG polls, identifying leadership recruitment as a major challenge confronting service delivery at grassroots level.
“In some states, 40 days’ notice was given before local government elections and within a week, they had an election and it was shabbily held. This is laughable. You will laugh and ask if it is the same Nigeria. It is a show of shame and we do not want a repetition of this in Osun State,” he said.
He added, “As of 2023, less than 60% of LGAs have been found to be administered by elected LGCs. Even, the LGA elections which have increased in number in 2024 especially since the July 11 judgment of the Supreme Courts are mostly a display of mediocrity.
Clearly, they are undertaken not in the interest of democratic governance and service delivery but most likely to meet up with the condition given that the existence of duly elected LGA councils as conditions for access to the LGA shares of the FAAC.
“The levels of recklessness observed in LGA elections do not in any way reflect the level of advancement in our election in Nigeria at the national level. We must admit also that this is partly because we the state and non-state actors have not committed as much to LGA elections as we have done with INEC.
“We do not desire a replication of the show of shame displayed at LG elections in other states here in Osun State at the February 2025 LG polls in Osun State. Even though it may not turn out perfect because of many limiting factors, if we are brave and patriotic, we conduct a very credible election worth being proud of.”
Other speakers including the President of Network of NGOs in the state, Michael Ebofin and Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Osun State, Ajala Adetunji, accused OSIEC of not carrying stakeholders along enough, urging it to conduct free and fair elections in collaboration with stakeholders.
An election expert, Bukola Idowu, also condemned the different approaches adopted by SIEC in various states as regards conduct of council polls, saying they were short of minimum election management standards.
Idowu, the team lead of Kimpact Development Initiative, posited, “The elections so far are an embarrassment. It is clear that states are conducting LG elections because of the allocations they are going to lose if they didn’t. Most SIECs don’t have money and they went ahead to conduct elections. We have seen a situation where elections weren’t held in some local governments and then a list of winners was announced. SIEC denied the use of BVAs in some states.”
On alleged failure of Osun electoral commission to carry stakeholders and people of the state along, Idowu said, “By now, we expect a high level of voter sensitisation in Osun State. If stakeholders are saying they have not been carried along, it puts the credibility of the election in doubt. The change can happen in Osun. It will be disastrous that after one year of preparation and notice, we still have shabbily conducted elections.”
In his remarks during the panel session, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun, Mutiu Agboke, advised OSIEC to always carry stakeholders along in its plans and ensure that there is smooth and transparent collation of results from wards to the state headquarters.
The REC said, “The organiser (JDPMC) felt that there is a need for OSIEC to do more in terms of organisation, engagement and in terms of collaboration. For us to move ahead and gain more grounds in this local government election, they felt that all of us who are stakeholders have to come together and look at the issues, what are the areas of weakness that we need to change and what are the areas of strength that we need to improve upon so that we can be able to change people’s perception in terms of negativity that they have about various conducts of local government elections.”
Advising OSIEC, Agboke stated, “We need to do more by ensuring that we let people know how the election is going to be conducted. We should let people know how the results of the election are going to be managed, we should let people know how the process of the result collation is going to be, we should let people know how the eventual announcement of the results will be. So, if all this is in simple language explained and analysed in detail to the members of the public, I think the confidence will be restored and the willingness for more people to participate in the local government elections will be guaranteed.”
Reacting, OSIEC Commissioner for Operations, Bunmi Ibiloye, said it has been engaging all key stakeholders, assuring that the Commission is poised towards delivering an acceptable election.
Meanwhile, the police assured the security of lives and property before, during and after the polls next year.
