Since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Federal Government's suit to bolster Local Government independence, mandating direct allocations to Local Governments and prompting Governors to conduct council elections within 90 days, states have been racing to meet the deadline.
Prior to the directive, some of the Governors were yet to appoint members of their state independent electoral commissions, while others have gone ahead to fix dates for the elections. Drawing from the past, some Nigerians were still skeptical about a possible outcome of the elections if the status quo doesn't change in terms of the management of the elections.
In South East, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi have successfully conducted their local council polls with the ruling party winning all available positions. In some of the States, the opposition parties boycotted the exercise.
In Abia State, Governor Alex Otti on September 5, inaugurated the Professor George Chima led board of Abia State Independent Electoral Commission, ABSIEC with a charge on members not to bow to the pressure of compromise as such will amount to suicide.
“Particularly to the Board members of ABSIEC, you will come under heavy pressure. People would want you to compromise. They will bring money to you. They will promise you heaven on earth but you must know that the very day you succumb, you would have committed suicide and will just be a matter of time before you find your way out. I do know that all of you are going to excel in this assignment” Gov. Otti said.
On Saturday September 21, ABSIEC, Chairman, Prof George Chima unveiled the timetable for the Local Government Election scheduled for November 2, 2024 at a meeting with Chairmen and Secretaries of Political Parties in Umuahia. He allayed the fear of impartiality, especially from opposition parties.
“In the past there has been apprehension as to the level of impartiality of the umpires in the discharge of this onerous responsibility but our commitment to usher in true democratic principles in our system remains pivotal.
"Election into local government councils in 2024 will no longer be business as usual. The commission is highly determined to making the elections free fair and credible and also ensuring that the elections will be seen as such.
"We therefore call on all the Stakeholders to ensure that the contestants and political party's play according to the rules, as that will complement the gesture extended by the commission in order to ensure this common goal of effective and credible Governance.
"I hereby issue a notice to all participants that the election process into the positions of Council Chairmen and 184 Independent National Electoral Commission wards councilors of the 17 local government areas of Abia State has begun and rightly inform you that the election date is Nov 2, 2024,” he informed.
The Political Parties have however described the timetable, as unveiled by ABSIEC, as an ambush and ploy by the commission to favour the ruling Labour Party, stressing that the time was too short for them to mobilise resources to conduct primaries and campaign effectively.
The Chairman of Inter Party Advisory Council and YPP Abia State Chairman, Comrade Nelson Ulocha berated ABSIEC for not deeming it fit to seek the input of the political parties before giving the notice if their real intention was to beat the 90 days deadline.
“We are not the government in power, we don't have the resources to run at the speed that ABSIEC is expecting from us. The commission should have discussed with the leaders of the political parties for our honest input,” He argued.
On his part, the Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Sunday Onukwubiri also disagreed with ABSIEC, saying “Our challenge is making it abrupt, it is unfair that the Federal Government gave 90 days and you waited this long, you know the time frame and you kept quiet, maybe you didn't want the parties to participate.
"I want to believe that they would still call the parties for interaction unless the government of the day has designed it in a way to only favour the government in power".
However, Labour Party Acting Chairman, Emmanuel Nweze Otti said his party is ready for the election, adding that ABSIEC has not acted against the law as the notice was still within the 30 days allowed by the law.
“Election is a process, we would approach it as a party, it has no templates, but as the event unfolds, we are ready to do our part.
"We should be looking at the law that guides the Election, what does the law stipulate? It is not human assumption or something you just manufacture. The Commission has given due notice as stipulated by the law. Parties should get ready to field candidates".
On the speculation that the Labour Party plans to hand Mayors of the 17 local government councils, automatic tickets, Otti debunked such rumours.
He said, “Our party is democratic and there would certainly be a primary election to select our candidates as stipulated by the guidelines.”
The ABSIEC had appealed to the parties for their understanding while promising to further engage the stakeholders to meet up with the deadline set for the local government election.
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