Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman | File Image
‘The only saving grace for the local government system in the country is to allow the nation’s electoral body saddled with the responsibility [INEC] to henceforth be conducting the local government election’
By Jamiu Ojo
Human rights activist, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, has appealed to the state governors amd members of the state House of Assembly to handover the conduct of the local government election to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This is coming on the heels of the Federal Government’s planned review of the 1999 Constitution.
Sulaiman said that allowing the nation’s electoral body to conduct the local government election would stop the charade election outcome of the States Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), bring sanity in the system even development and uniformity among the third tiers of government in the country.
The rights activist and the chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), who made the appeal through a statement issued by the CHRSJ’S Media Office on Sunday, called on the Forum of Speakers of the State House of Assemblies to ensure two-third of supporting the Bill for the inclusion in the proposed new amended Constitution.
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He also pointed out that the Local Government election conducted by State electoral body only favours the ruling party in the state.
His words: “The local government system that is supposed to serve as training ground for political leaders and administrators has been relegated to background because of selfish political interest and nothing to write home about to the extent that the opposing political actors have lost hope in the local government electoral system.
“The only saving grace for the local government system in the country is to allow the nation’s electoral body saddled with the responsibility [INEC] to henceforth be conducting the local government election. If this Bill could be supported by two-third of the State House of Assemblies, it is going to deepen the nation’s current democractic experiment in the grassroot level of the country.
“Timing of conducting the local government election should be different from that of general election in order to bring even development, sanity and uniformity in the local government system in the land.”
