By Edet Edet & Kyte Usen 



The Senate’s recent call on President Bola Tinubu to stop the funding of local government caretaker committees and convene a national dialogue on local government autonomy appears as mere grandstanding.


This is because recent history of attempts to create autonomy for local governments and why those attempts failed, are known to them.


The Ninth Assembly had attempted a constitutional amendment that would have granted local government autonomy.


The Houses of Assembly in Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kaduna, Lagos, Ondo, Rivers, Yobe and Imo states, voted against financial autonomy for local governments.


Fifteen States voted for local government autonomy. These were Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun and Osun.


“Similarly, 12 of the 36 states of the federation opposed administrative autonomy for LGs. They are Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Rivers, Yobe and Imo.


However, 14 states - Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ogun and Osun- passed the bill”


The Senators know that the States that passed the bill, including those States that did not, acted on the instructions of their governors.


Recall that in 2013, the Governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) rejected financial autonomy for local governments.


They held a marathon five-hour meeting in Lafia, Nasarawa State, after which they released an eight point communiqué, which took local government autonomy to the cleaners.


They had opined that autonomy for local governments would undermine the fundamental principle of federalism and push the country towards a unitary system of government.


So, quite clearly and without any shred of doubt, the governors have always pulled the strings. Some of the Senators, who were governors at a point in time, would find it very difficult to counter this truth.


There is only one way out. The SIEC Law must be repealed. 


Section 15 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates the INEC.


Organise, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, and to the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and Houses of Assembly of each State of the Federation (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999:143)


It is instructive to note that the powers of conducting local government elections is constitutionally out of the mandate of INEC.


Section 3 Part 11 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes provision for the establishment of State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC. 


Section of the Constitution defines the powers of SIEC


1- To organize, undertake and supervise all elections to local government councils within the State

2- To render such advice as it may consider necessary to the INEC on the compilation of and the register of voters in so far as that register is applicable to local government elections in the state (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999:148)


“Furthermore, while the federal government has constitutional power to constitute the membership of INEC as contained in the Section 154 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the same power is bestowed on state governors for the composition of SIEC as contained in Section 3 of Part 11 of the same Constitution. Unlike INEC that has an organizational structure mainly composed of Chairman and National Commissioners, SIEC is made up of ‘a chairman and not less than five but not more than seven other persons’ (Section 3, Part 11 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: 148)


If the Senate is really serious on local government autonomy, then it has to begin with repealing the section that created SIEC and returning local government elections to INEC.


SIEC is the fountain of control exercised by governors over local governments. It is doubtful, the existence of any elected local government chairman or councilors under SIEC that can go against the governor of a State.


The governors often acting with connivance of their appointees at the SIEC solely determine not only who becomes a candidate, but also who wins any local government election in their states. That is why there is often a clean sweep of local government elections by the ruling party in the states.


So, instead of calling for stoppage of funds to local government caretaker committees, the Senate should strike the serpent in the head.


By repealing the section that grants SIEC its Constitutional status, the annoyance of caretaker committees would be gone forever, as INEC, would not fail to carry out local government elections, as and when due, in all the states.


Again, the call on President Bola Tinubu to call for a dialogue on local government autonomy appears a misplaced call, especially as the Senate knows that it has the authority to repeal all or any law, deemed inimical to the institutional growth of our country.


But perhaps the Senate is being cautious in taking this route because it would also throw in questions on the independence of INEC at the center, including calls by civil society that the powers of the President to appoint the Chairman and Commissioners of INEC be removed.


There is however a presumption that elected political officers should put governance far and above politics, if indeed, they mean well for the country.


This government has often applauded herself on her ability to take hard decisions for the good of the country. The search for local government autonomy presents yet another opportunity.


Lets repeal the SIEC anomaly.


Additional reports from, Johnson O Olaniyi, State Independent Electoral Commissions and local government elections in Nigeria, AOSIS publishing, vol 5, No1 )2017) and Leke Baiyewu, How lagos, Rivers, Borno, others voted against LG autonomy, Punch, 29th January 2023.



credit: www.plenary.com.ng