A litany of protests Sunday greeted the outcome of the local government election polls in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Benue states.
Most state governments are conducting local government elections in their respective states in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling which declared that no local council should be run by a caretaker committee.
Like the previous council polls across the country, the ruling parties swept off the chairmanship and councillorship seats, except in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled Rivers state where, on the directive of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the Action People’s Party(APP), cleared almost all the seats.
Fubara, it was gathered, had directed his followers willing to become chairmen and councillors in the state to vie for the positions on the APP platform, having lost the control of the state PDP to his erstwhile godfather and incumbent FCT minister, Nyesom Wike.
In a tension-dominated election held Saturday, the APP won 22 of the 23 chairmanship positions, with the Action Alliance (AA) having one seat, following the declaration by the Chairman, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission(RVSIEC), Mr. Adolphus Enebeli.
Also in Akwa Ibom state, the ruling PDP swept won 30 of the 31 local government chairmanship seats, while the APC won one seat.
Chairman Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKSIEC) Aniedi Ikoiwak announced this in a signed result released in Uyo Sunday.
Unlike the two others, the ruling APC came top in all the local government areas, winning all the available 23 chairmanship and 276 councillorship seats, a development the lawmaker representing Benue South Senatorial District, Abba Moro, described as a sham.
…Rivers
Swearing in the new council chairmen at the Executive Council Chamber of the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Sunday, Governor Fubara urged them to take after his governance style.
The exercise, it would be recalled, was marred by protests from both the APC and PDP.
While alerting the new council bosses on alleged plan to perpetrate violence against them on resumption, Fubara said: “I’m aware that they are mobilising 20 people per unit to go and confront you tomorrow when you resume in your local government headquarters. Please if they are coming with violence, avoid them.”
“The peace of this state is too important to us. Everybody knows what they are planning but please I want to beg everyone to follow my approach.
“At the right time, you will always win if you are patient and calculative. We have made our promises to our people. We are going to lead them to the promised land,” he added.
Announcing the outcome of the local government elections Sunday in Port Harcourt, Chairman RVSIEC Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd), had earlier said the declaration of the overall results was still pending due to ongoing vote collation in Etche LGA.
“The results for Etche LGA will be announced alongside the outcomes for the 319 councillorship positions at a later date,” Enebeli stated.
…Akwa Ibom, Benue
Also, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP-controlled Akwa Ibom state won 30 chairmanship positions in Saturday’s local government council election in the state.
Announcing the result in a signed result released Sunday in Uyo, the Ikoiwak-led AKSIEC, declared Usoro Effiong of the APC Chairman-Elect of Essien Udim local government council.The election was conducted in 31 local government areas and 369 wards in the state.
Similarly, one of our correspondents reports from Benue state that the APC emerged victorious during the exercise held Saturday across the 23 local government areas.
According to official results announced Sunday by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), Chairman Barr. Terlumun Tombowua, the APC won all of the chairmanship seats, with its candidates declared winners in all the 23 local governments and 276 council wards in the state.
The election, which was widely observed as peaceful and transparent, however saw a low voter turnout.
Welcoming the election outcome, Governor Hyacinth Alia attributed the APC’s success to the party’s commitment to grassroots development and the people’s trust in its leadership.
“This victory is a testament to our party’s dedication to empowering local communities and delivering dividends of democracy. We will continue to work tirelessly to address the needs of our people and ensure Benue State remains on the path of progress,” Alia said.
And like the governor, the state caretaker committee chairman of the APC, Benjamin Omale, said the victory was well-deserved.
He said the state government had assured residents of its commitment to inclusive governance and pledge to work with all stakeholders to drive development and prosperity.
“This is what has translated to the result we have today. The election’s outcome has significant implications for the state’s political landscape, as the APC also solidifies its hold on Benue state with the masses speaking loudly,” he added.
…Opposition lauds outcome
Commenting on the outcome, an associate professor, Cletus Tyokyaa, of the PDP, congratulated the APC on its victory.
Describing the election as peaceful and transparent, he commended the governor for allowing a level- playing ground during the exercise.
Similarly, Ibrahim Idoko, the state chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), commended the exercise and called for improved collaboration among the political parties state to address the state’s challenges.
Idoko, who is also the state chairman of Labour Party (LP), said his party would look at the result critically and consult with stakeholders to determine the party’s next line of action over the results.
…Abba Moro kicks
Rejecting the result however, a PDP chieftain, Senator Abba Moro, condemned the local government election which he described as a sham and an insult to democracy.
According to Moro, reports from polling units across his senatorial district indicated that the election did not hold as election materials and officials of the BSIEC were nowhere to be found, except in APC leaders’ premises where ballots were allegedly thumb-printed for their candidates.
Moro is a statement signed by his media adviser, Emmanuel Eche’Ofun John, expressed disappointment that the governor was not standing by his campaign promises of truth and due process.
“As a priest, I expected the governor to champion a paradigm shift by doing what’s right, rather than repeating past mistakes,” he said.
The senator emphasised that democracy was fiercely fought for with some paying the ultimate price, and vowed that anti-democratic forces will not be allowed to undermine the system.
Moro also urged his fellow PDP members to remain calm, assuring that everything legally possible will be done to challenge the election outcome in court and ensure a free, fair, and credible election that allows the electorate to choose their local government leaders.
….SERAP urges Tinubu on credibility of LG polls
Taking strong exceptions to credibility issues surrounding the local government polls, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged President Bola Tinubu not to allow allocation to councils whose elections were tainted.
Specifically, he called on the president “to direct Mr Olawale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, to immediately withhold federal allocations to states that have failed and/refused to conduct credible local government elections, and to ensure that any allocations from the Federation Account is paid only to democratically elected local government councils and no other body or institution.”
SERAP also urged him “to provide details of the number of local government councils that have directly received federal allocations and whether the councils are democratically elected, as provided for by the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and ordered by the Supreme Court in its judgment of 11 July 2024.”
The body also called on the president “to promptly invite the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to jointly track and monitor the spending of FAAC allocations by democratically elected local government councils across the country.”
These were some of the highlights of a letter dated 5 October 2024, and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
SERAP said: “Your government has the obligation to enforce the Nigerian Constitution and to prevent public wrong, including by state governors.”
“A democratically elected local government council does not and should not exist at the pleasure, whims and caprice of governors or their ‘political godfathers’,” he said.
The body further said: “Your government also has the constitutional obligation to ensure accountability for the spending of federal allocations and immediate compliance with the judgment by the Supreme Court and the rule of law.”
“Local government councils are entitled to a direct payment from the Federation Account to promote good governance, people’s welfare and development of local government areas across the country.”
“Where the rule of law reigns, political expediency ought to be sacrificed on the altar of the rule of law so as to guarantee the continued existence of institutions created to promote social values of liberty, orderly conduct and development.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.
“It will be entirely consistent with the rule of law to immediately withhold federal allocations to states that have failed and/refused to conduct local government elections and to ensure that any allocations from the Federation Account are paid only to democratically elected councils and no other body or institution,” the organisation said.
Continuing, it said: “According to our information, the Supreme Court of Nigeria recently ordered the Federal Government to forthwith directly pay funds in the Federation Account only to democratically elected local government councils and no other body or institution.
“The court also ordered the 36 state governors to ‘ensure democratic governance at the local government level. The court ruled that state governors have no power to dissolve democratically elected local government councils within their states and replace the councils with caretaker committees. The court also made ‘an order of immediate compliance by states with the terms of this judgment.
“According to our information, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu recently stated that ‘the conduct of Local Government elections in virtually all the States of the Federation has become mere coronation of candidates of the ruling parties. It is time to stop the coronation and conduct proper elections.
“SERAP is concerned that local government elections in several states are susceptible to manipulation by governors and other actors. SERAP is concerned that several state governors are failing to organize local government council elections, contrary to section 7(1) of the Nigerian Constitution.”
“SERAP is also concerned about the allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the spending by governors of federal allocations meant for the local government councils in their states. Trillions of FAAC allocations received by Nigeria’s 36 states have allegedly gone down the drain.
“The resulting human costs directly threaten the human rights of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians. Despite the increased allocation from FAAC, millions of residents in several states continue to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services.”
“The reported removal of petrol subsidy and the flotation of the naira by the Federal Government has translated into increased FAAC allocations to states and the FCT. However, there is no corresponding improvement in the security and welfare of millions of Nigerians,” Oluwadare said.
“SERAP notes that Section 162(3)(5) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that the amount standing to the credit of local government councils in the Federation Account shall be distributed to them and be paid directly to them.
“State governors have no power to keep, control, manage or disburse in any manner allocations from the Federation Account to local government councils.
“By the terms of the Supreme Court judgment, the 36 state governors are restrained from further collecting, receiving, spending or tampering with local government council funds from the Federation Account for the benefit of local government councils.
“SERAP notes that section 165 of the Nigerian Constitution and the Allocation of Revenue Act No.1 1982, stipulate that the revenues generated by the government should be credited into the federation account and disbursed monthly among the federal government, states and local governments.
“SERAP notes that former president Muhammadu Buhari had in December 2022 stated that, ‘If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100m, N50m will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100 million. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with,” the letter further added.
It said: “According to Buhari, ‘If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100 million. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.
“The 36 states in Nigeria and the federal capital territory, Abuja, have reportedly collected over N40 trillion federal allocations meant for the 774 local governments areas in the country and FCT.
“The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed to states N225.21 billion federal allocations meant for local governments in November 2023 alone. States also collected N258,810,449,711.47 federal allocations meant for local government areas in December 2023.”