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STATES, INEC REJECT CALLS TO SCRAP STATE ELECTORAL COMMISSIONS
Delegates to the 13th National Delegates Conference of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria in Jos have rejected calls for the scrapping of the State Independent Electoral Commissions.
According to a statement by the European Union on Thursday, they instead demanded the reform of the state electoral bodies saddled with the responsibility of conducting local government elections.
The conference geared towards analysing the challenges facing SIECs and proposing workable solutions to strengthen local election administration is supported by the European Union through its Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme.
Prof. Samuel Egwu, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, his Nasarawa State counterpart Abdullahi Sule, FOSIECON Chairman, Jossy Eze; and the Independent National Electoral Commission representative, Oliver Agundu, who spoke at the event insisted that there was no justification for scraping SIECs.
According to them, reforming the state electoral bodies would guarantee their independence along with their financial and administrative autonomy.
Egwu said, “I support the retention and strengthening of SIECs because we operate a federal polity. “The imperative of federalism requires us to strengthen local rule, and there is no other way. “The second option, which may seem attractive, is to transfer the power to conduct local elections to INEC.
“While this appears simple, it does not align with the logic of federalism.
“The third option, which some have proposed is to set up a new bureau to oversee local government elections. However, this proposal has already suffered a premature end on the floor of the Senate.
My point, therefore, is to respect federalism.”
Eze expressed disappointment that despite constitutional backing, SIECs are often under pressure to serve vested interests.
According to him, while there are several bills before the National Assembly seeking to abolish SIECs or transfer their mandates, none appears to address the real issues.
Mutfwang said, “The conversation should begin with how we recruit leaders in this country. “We must develop a strategy that helps us identify individuals who genuinely have the people’s interest at heart.
“Bad governance does not just undermine democracy. It leads to underdevelopment and the waste of public resources.
“Autonomy is masking the real issues. What we need to focus on is efficiency. As someone who has governed at the local level, I believe improving governance at that tier is essential.”
Sule pledged his support for whatever reform solutions the conference agrees upon, even as he offered his state as a pilot for implementing the recommendations.
I hope, at the end of this conference, FOSIECON delegates will come up with actionable solutions. Many governors will be willing to support those efforts,” he said. “I offer Nasarawa State for any pilot initiatives that may be proposed. We have already taken similar steps with our State House of Assembly.”
Agundu, the INEC representative encouraged SIECs to view elections not as one-off events but as continuous processes.
He also called for deeper engagement with civil society organisations and voter education efforts to better inform the electorate.
“SIECs should not treat the conduct of elections as isolated events,” he said. “Elections are a process that includes post-election activities. We have observed that many SIECs become active only during election periods.”
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