The
frenetic move by the ruling elite to configure the South-West in terms
of the number of local government is throwing up a number of critical
issues. In a similar fashion pioneered by Lagos, Osun and Ogun states
have enunciated new Local Government Development Areas (LCDAs) which
have become a core issue in public discourse.
Osun, with existing 31 local council areas, announced the carving out of 37 LCDAs, just as Ogun set the necessary machinery in motion to legitimise the creation of 31 LCDAs. As part of the constitutional requirement for the creation of local government, Osun last year, conducted a referendum on the proposed LCDAs, through the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC).
Before the creation of 37 additional LCDAs, the case of Lagos was such that the 20 councils catered for its bulging population estimated at about 20 million. Kano, where Jigawa was carved out as a state, has 44 Local Government Areas.
Section 8 (3) of the Constitution specifies the processes for the creation of new local councils. The section empowers state to determine the number of councils they can afford, conduct a referendum on the subject matter, get approval of the state House of Assembly before sending the report to the National Assembly for ratification.
The last phase of the process, which required approval by the National Assembly, triggered the face-off between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the then Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, after he carved 37 LCDAs out of the 20 constitutionally listed local government areas in the state. The administration of Obasanjo had withheld federal allocations to Lagos councils for about five years, only for the Supreme Court to rule that the former president lacked the power to have seized the funds, though the apex court in another breadth declared that the creation of the LCDAs was inchoate. .
Justifying the creation of the councils then, Tinubu had said they were designed as catalysts for development by bringing government closer to the people. Besides, he was miffed that the military created the confusion over the true status of local administration in a true federation. Tinubu said: “If I have to rank them (hottest battles he fought as governor), I think the creation of local governments was my favourite because the processes are clearly stated and well-articulated in the Constitution. And if you do all of that and comply with the constitutional requirements, then you should not be denied. I believe in true federalism. I believe in local government administration, which I think is a service centre for the state. It is wrong to even think that there are three tiers of government in a federal system of government.”
The separate initiatives by Osun and Ogun to create additional councils has thrown up a number of issues and theories.
This is because of the frantic moves being made by the two to justify their action, in view of a larger political configuration not withstanding what some regard as the cost implication of the latest initiative. Another theory fast gaining is if the creation of the LCDAs is a subtle but grand plan by the political elite to hit the ground running ahead the 2019 general election. While there are talks about some politicians forging new alliances that may lead to the formation of a new mega party, a governorship election is slated for later in the year in Ondo State currently under the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), just as it is the governing party in Ekiti State. .
The Lagos experience was remarkable because quite a number of other states in the federation that initially created additional local councils reverted. Rather than defending the constitutionality of their action, they succumbed to pressure from higher political quarters, especially the Presidency and the top echelon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Such states included Jigawa and Katsina, then under the control of the governing party at the centre.
How expedient is LCDAs now?
There is a seeming consensus among stakeholders in the South-West, regardless of political divide or affiliation, on the need for additional council areas in the geo-political. The mutuality is premised on the lopsidedness in the distribution of local government across the six political zones in the country. The zone ranks third as the three zones in the North have the largest number of local councils. The figure is among the criteria for the allocation of federal revenue. The disparity in the distribution of local councils which is skewed against the South-West undermines the fact that the zone contributes the bulk of revenues from other sources other than the sale of crude oil.
Perhaps, the only clear points of departure among a few stakeholders are the timing of the creation of the LCDAs and the perceived political undertone, especially on the part of party that is in government This has sustained the debate on the expediency of the creation of councils in the South-West. The promoters of additional local councils said it was desirable because they will appropriately bring governance closer to the people. Proponents of LCDAs also believe that the new structures will further foster transparency and accountability, as the administrators will be subjected to constant public scrutiny, in view of the new social order being cretaed by the social media, coupled with the increasing awareness and enlightenment on their privileges, rights and responsibility as citizens in a democracy.
While not absolutely opposed to the idea of new councils, some stakeholders in the South-west have expressed reservations on the carving out of LCDAs from existing local council areas listed in the 1999 Constitution, because of the political temperament of a few political leaders. Their contention is that those behind the new councils cannot be wholly considered to altruistic in their motive. The suspicion is that they are more concerned with expanding their areas of political influence ahead of major political contests in the future. So, according to some critics, such councils are designed to expand the existing political empires of those ‘demagogues,’ to further weaken perceived opponents, as new councils will require more enormous resources to establish new individual political structures ahead of elections.
Another school of thought is that the existence of the new council will translate to the duplication of structures of governance with the concomitant bloated bureaucracies and huge overhead cost. Simply put, more resources will be required to run the councils: capital and recurrent expenditure, as well as sundry huge expenses in establishing and oiling the machinery of local administration. Thus, some experts contend that the argument that the new councils will help to boost revenue generation and act as catalysts for grassroots development was indicative of poor leadership. This is because a responsible leadership should be able to demonstrate the capacity and resourcefulness to galvanise resources at any point in time towards carrying out the duty of government to the citizenry. They are of the view that the seeming collapse of local government administration in the country was more about the greed, lack of capacity, honesty and transparency and accountability by the ruling class.
Notwithstanding the mixed feelings in certain quarters on the necessity or otherwise of additional local council areas in the South-West, the preponderance of opinion indicate a welcome development. Many share the sentiments in official quarters that the LCDAs will buoy or fast track development by bringing governance closer to the grassroots. Their position is that the gains indeed outstrip the demerits going by the Lagos experience, where the people now see the need to claim ownership of the LCDAs nearest to them. Critical issues of development, especially on infrastructure are taking to the door steps of those administrating the LCDAs, and where it fell under the purview of state, the matter is referred to the higher quarters.
Besides, the thinking among stakeholders is that Nigerians could start interrogating the issue as it returns to the front burner of national discourse. Critical issues of constitutional incongruity that hampers states from determining the number of local government they can afford to cater for, status of local council as its present designation as the third tier of government is antithetical to the principle of federalism, and the imbalance in the structure in terms of number of councils among the states and zones with its attendant unjust formula for wealth distribution and allocation from the centre, since government is about generating wealth. It is important to address the constitutional confusion which has paved the way for individual states trying to cut corners.
However, the local government reform of 1976, which provided the guidelines for local governments in the country, for the first time, involved the Federal Government in the funding of local governments. The local councils began to receive statutory share of federation accounts and state revenue. But one of the reforms that many found most nauseating was the decision to legitimise local councils as the third tier of government, which a lof of experts described an an outright aberration to the principle of federalism. The government soon established the Local Government Service Commission and increased the local government share of the federation accounts to 25 per cent thereby boosting their revenue base and confidence and power to equip them for their constitutional role. Section 162 of the 1999 constitution guarantees the right of the local government to receive statutory allocation of the revenue from both the federation account and state resource, while the fourth, schedule of the same constitution spells out the functions of the local government. At present, the 774 constitutionally recognised local government areas are empowered to provide social services like healthcare centers, electrification, pipe bore water and accessible roads. Their eight main sources of revenue include rates, grants, statutory, allocations, fees and charges, fines, earnings and profits, loans and miscellaneous. Under miscellaneous, revenue can be generated from the payment of levies like developmental and educational levies; rents paid for using any land or building belonging to a local government; gifts and donations from individuals, philanthropists and corporate bodies.
The predicament of the local governments is made more precarious because of the unending compromise by unions of local council employees on the issue of autonomy for that tier of government. It prefers the current status quo of funding, whereby local government enjoys statutory allocations from the federation account, ostensibly because of the overbearing influence and utter disregard for the letters of the constitution by states over issues concerning local government, especially funding. The State Houses of Assembly too have equally allowed opportunities to be truly independent slip by because of the fear of the executive arm of government. This was amply evident during the various attempts to review or amend the 1999 Constitution as they blatantly spurned those opportunities because of the overbearing influence of the executive. All this has crystallised in the mutual suspicion between opposition parties and those in power on the desirability of LCDAs.
Osun State
In the midst of raging controversy for the delay in conducting local government election in Osun State, Governor Rauf aregbesola announced the dissolution of dissolved the caretaker committees in all the 30 local government areas in the state and the creation of 31 Local Development Council Areas (LCDAs). It brought the number of the local councils in Osun to 61.
Besides, he appointed 61 council managers, who are civil servants on Grade Level 14 to pilot the affairs of the local governments. He justified the carving out of the LCDAs from the existing local councils despite the current financial challenges of the state on the need to bring about rapid development. He said his administration gave a sufficient consideration to the matter, stressing that necessary procedures had been instituted to reduce cost, as the new LCDAs are to pursue aggressive mobilisation drive.
“The primary responsibilities of our new local government system are sanitation, market management and revenue mobilisation and generation. This is consistent with local government administration worldwide.
“The beauty of this new system is its parliamentary nature, which requires the chairman and the vice chairman to be elected by the councillors from among their own ranks, thereby saving cost”, Aregbesola added.
However, some pundits believe that the decision of Aregbesola to create the LCDAs was politically motivated, especially ahead of the 2018 governorship election. To them, creation of the LCDAs was targeted at giving a relative advantage to his party, APC, over rival parties, as the councils but nothing but baits for the people at the grass roots. A political analyst, who pleaded anonymity, averred that “The governor is a political strategist, who knows the dynamics of politics and how to explore new policy to achieve a long-term political gain. Of what benefit will the creation of the new LCDAs be to the people? The existing local governments are not being properly funded due to lack of financial autonomy. Salaries of council workers are not regular and you are creating additional 31 LCDAs. The claim that the new LCDAs will bring development closer to the masses is deceptive and a calculated move to influence the people ahead of the 2018 governorship poll.”
Since he became governor via a Court of Appeal judgment in Ibadan which sacked the government of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, on November 10, 2010 the Aregbesola’s administration is yet to conduct a local government election. The development is generating concern among major stakeholders in the state, with the leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claiming that fear of defeat in the council poll if held is the major cause.
But, Aregbesola blamed the opposition for the delay, citing litigations as the major impediment to the processes that would culminate to the conduct of the council poll, where councillors and chairmen would emerge. Shedding light on the controversy, he said the matter was before the court, and that since he came into office through a judicial process, he would allow all the litigations surrounding the councils before his coming into the office to be settled or resolved through a court of competent jurisdiction.
Speaking on the development, former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in Osun, Barrister Kolapo Alimi laid the blame over the failure to organise council poll at the doorstep of the PDP, accusing them of instituting litigations at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, in Abuja over the matter.
Alimi, who spoke in a telephone chat said “when this government came on board, there was a democratically elected government at the local government level. But, in December 2011, the Supreme Court dissolved the elected executive chairmen at the councils. Then, the constitution of OSSIEC, which was in place was challenged by a member of the State House of Assembly at the High Court”.
“The PDP challenged the dissolution of the OSSIEC. They could not challenge the sack of the local government chairmen because it was a Supreme Court ruling. They went to the Court of Appeal in Akure to challenge the High Court judgment that dissolved OSSIEC and the Appeal Court upheld the High Court ruling. After the Court of Appeal ruling, Governor Aregbesola constituted another OSSIEC”, he asserted.
According to Alimi, they subsequently appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court. The case is, at present, before the apex court. They included in their brief that we constituted OSSIEC during the interval they filed their appeal. That was why we asked OSSIEC to stay action on the preparations for the poll.
But, the PDP denied being responsible for the delay in the conduct of council poll, arguing that the litigation instituted by the dissolved members of OSSIEC at the Supreme Court is not justifiable excuse for the failure of Aregbesola’s government to organise the election at the grassroot level six years after he assumed power as the governor of Osun State
The publicity secretary of the Osun PDP, Prince Bola Ajao, who spoke to our correspondent in Osogbo posited that “the APC-led administration is taking Osun people for a ride. At one point in time,they would blow hot, at another time, they would blow cold. At a time, when it sooths them, they would say we are going to conduct local government election. In another breath, they would say it is one imaginary opposition that is responsible for their failure to do so”.
While accusing the government of playing politics with the council poll, he argued that “it is unfortunate that they are shying away from the dictates of the Nigeria’s constitution, which says we must have a democratically elected government at the third tier”.
LGs and LCDAs in Ekiti State
The games that had been played with the conduct of local government elections by politicians caused the people’s scepticism about incumbent Governor Ayodele Fayose’s promise to conduct LG polls. What is more, a few weeks before the end of his tenure, former Governor Kayode Fayemi, had announced the creation of 19 LCDAs in the state and appointed caretaker chairmen to head the councils. The creation of the additional councils caused mixed feelings in the state. And the fate of the LCDAs was already decided because Fayose, who would take over government in a few weeks then, had repeatedly expressed his opposition to the creation of the new councils. Thus, it was not a surprise that the LCDAs died a natural death when Fayose took over.
To many Ekiti people, the LCDAs were dead on arrival because of both the timing of their creation and the funds with which to fund them. Some even claimed that the new councils were created as a trap, alleging that they were meant to set the benefitting communities against the government which was sure to ignore them.
The 19 LCDAs were in addition to the 16 local government areas already existing in the state, thereby bringing their number to 35. How to fund the new councils, as well as how to resolve the numerous issues that cropped up in the build-up to the announcement of the councils, was also believed became an issues among various people in the state.
However, on December 19, 2015, local government elections were held in Ekiti. To many in the state, the poll was “a promise kept” by the state governor, who had promised among other things on his assumption of office on October 14, 2014, that he would conduct local government elections.
There was scepticism when the governor made the announcement that elections would be conducted into the councils because there hadn’t been any election in the state in about 12 years. The last time local government elections held in the state was when Chief Segun Oni was the governor.
Kwara State
In Kwara State, agitators for new council areas have kept in suspense by the government over their demands as a proposal for the creation of new LCDAs which was muted by the state government in 2014, remains on the drawing board. A committee saddled with the assignment was under the chairmanship of a chieftain of the APC and the former chairman of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Alhaji Kawu Baraje.
The current financial situation of the state, coupled with dwindling allocation accruable to the state appear to have made the state government to keep the matter in the cooler.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Communication, Dr Muideen Akorede, simply said the government was still studying the report on the creation of LCDAs.
However, the decision will also be based on a sustained improvement in state finances, he said.
Alhaji Muyideen Aliu, who is a community leader at Adewole/Madawaki area of Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state, said the proposal for creation of LCDAs was a welcome development.
“It is good, as it will bring governance to the grassroots. More opportunities will be created for youths that are not at present engaged. At Adewole/Madaki area of Ilorin, we want an LCDA created, as it will increase our level of participation in government. We have resources; we have the land. We can maintain and generate money for its sustenance,” he said.
The last council election in Kwara State was held in October /November 2013. So, the expectation is that fresh local government election will be conducted this year because the tenure of the council chairmen is a three-year term. All the 16 local government chairmen are made up of APC members.
Kogi State
In Kogi State, local government authorities will wind up by May 5 as the present executives in the 21 Local Government Areas of the state were inaugurated on May 6, 2013 after an election that was conducted on May 4, 2013.
However, upon the assumption of office of the chairmen, they were faced with series of litigations following which they were eventually sent packing in November 2014. The then govenor, Capt Idris Wada thereafter appointed Senior Special Assistants to oversee the administration of the councils.
But the Court of Appeal, in November 2015, ordered that the chairmen be returned to office and that truncated the tenure of the SSAs. The chairmen returned to office and continued with their tenure which is expected to end after three years of taking oath of office.
However, the raging political drama in the state does not make the conduct of a local government election a priority at the expiration of the tenure of the present chairmen in the next two months.
The state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had, after his inauguration, dissolved the board of the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KSIEC) without any replacement yet. With the constitutional provision that the SIEC must be in place for at least 90 days before it can conduct election, then elected officials will not succeed the present occupiers of the chairmanship seats.
Ogun State
The proposal by the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun for 31 LCDAs is already being debated by the state House of Assembly. He had forwarded the proposal to the assembly barely 24 hours after his Osun State counterpart, Aregbesola announced the creation of 31 from the existing local government areas in the state.
Amosun’s reason for taking the initiative was similar to the ones advanced by his colleague, which is to bring governance to the door step of the people. He said the creation of the LCDAs was in furtherance of the government’s attempt to meet the yearnings of the people of the state through the delivery of democratic dividends. He explained the initiative would bring government nearer to the people and engender development.
Judging from the debate on the floor of the State House of Assembly so far, the decision of the governor on the matter appears to have gone down well with majority of the stakeholders in the state. All the lawmakers, who contributed to the debate, applauded the move and stressed the need to expedite action on the proposal for the LCDAs.
Lagos State
The creation of 31 Local Council Development Areas LCDAs in Osun State by the state governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola again brought to the fore the politics and intrigues that usually go with the administration of that tier of government in Nigeria.
Interestingly, Aregbesola’s recent action has re-ignited in the minds of Nigerians, especially those in the South-West, a similar episode in Lagos, some years ago, when the then state governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu decided to create an additional 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) from the existing 20 local government councils, an action that drew the wrath of the Presidency.
The exit of Obasanjo did not bring an end to the face-off between the Federal Government and Lagos State over the creation of the new councils and other attendant issues. His predecessors, late President Umaru Yar’Adua had written a letter to Governor Babatunde Fashola, on the intention of the Federal Government to seek true, correct and proper interpretation of Section 8 subsection (3) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution, as the apex court had declared that the creation of the 37 LCDAs was incognate.
While Lagos State has always been seen by many as an epitome of positive developments and good governance, not a few believe that constituting local government administrations in the state has not always been without its issues.
For instance, since the last set of council chairmen was elected in October 2011, more than four years ago, the state has not been able to conduct any election at that level, even after their three-year tenure expired in October 2014.
Instead of conducting elections into the various offices within the councils, the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), only directed council chairmen to hand over the management of the councils to Executive Secretaries, a supposedly temporary arrangement, but which seems to be having a life of its own since the administration of these councils is still in the hands of these Executive Secretaries today.
But, the questions on the lips of Nigerians, especially residents of the state have been: why has it been difficult for Lagos State to organise elections at this tier of government, despite its much-touted sophistication? Besides, why would a state that prides itself as running a populist government always develop cold feet whenever the issue of constituting new administrations at that level, considered nearest to the people, arises?
Opinions are however divided among those who spoke concerning this contentious issue. For instance, while defending the state over the issue, sometime ago, the then Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Ademorin Kuye, had attributed the failure of the state to hold elections at that level to inability of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide outstanding permanent voters cards (PVCs) belonging to the state.
According to him, the state had some outstanding Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to collect from the nation’s electoral body, a development the commissioner argued had hindered the state electoral commission from conducting the local government polls, a claim that has since been punctured by many.
‘I’ve listened to this argument, but you will discover that it sounds logical. For instance, the state that was complaining about having outstanding cards with INEC had since gone ahead to conduct a governorship election after this period,’ argued Mr. Owoseni Mayowa, a resident of Iyana Ipaja, a suburb of the metropolis.
Mayowa insisted that the LASEIC was just being economical with the truth and that there should be more to this than meet the eye.
Expectedly, the main opposition party in the state, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is also unrelenting in its criticism of the entire process.
Recently, the Party criticised the composition of the state’s electoral commission, noting that some members were simply too biased to be part of the commission.
The state chapter of the party had strongly criticised recent selection and eventual confirmation of four commissioners of the State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), accusing Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the state House of Assembly of “nakedly neglecting due process and flouting the sLate electoral laws.”
According to the party, the law prohibits members of political parties from being part of membership of LASIEC.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, described the inclusion of Mr. Lateef Raji as LASIEC commissioner to conduct council polls in the state as an unequivocal resolve by the governor to rig the proposed exercise in favour of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Lateef Raji has always been a card carrying member of parties from AD, which he acted as chairman during the factionalisation, to being a member of AC; ACN and now APC. He just served as Special Assistant to former Governor Fashola. He presently has his posters and banners in Lagos and Ondo to contest the Ondo governorship election. He is thus unfit and improper to act as umpire in a contest which APC will contest in,” the party said.
According to the PDP, the continuous retention of Justice Fatai Adeyinka (retired) as LASIEC chairman and now confirming Lateef Raji as LASIEC commissioner is conclusive of APC and Governor Ambode as anti-democrats, despot who are desperate to control all the councils in the state.
‘This is insulting the sensibilities of Lagos voters, all well meaning persons must condemn this act. The purported commissioner and the LASIEC chairman must be removed to allow for reasonably fair polls.
‘If they are not removed, the APC can as well continue to violate the political rights of Lagosians to vote for their choice in a free and fair election. They should continue in the illegal, unconstitutional and fraudulent local councils now headed by aberration executive secretaries,’ the PDP said.
But, a lawmaker, Hon. Moshood Oshun, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts (State) and representative of Lagos Mainland Constituency 2 in a chat with the Nigerian Tribune argued that the council polls had not held because the state’s electoral commission had not been briefed on electoral rule by INEC.
‘The LG elections have not been held because the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) is waiting on INEC for the electoral rule, without which it cannot conduct LG elections. So the delay is not LASIEC’s fault but INEC’s.
‘But I can assure you as soon as the electoral rule is made available, LG elections will be held because Lagos State is ready and LASIEC is ready to conduct the elections. There is nothing stopping the state because we are committed to the rule of law which involves the conduct of LG polls so as to guarantee that our democratic set up is not in any way compromised,’ argued the lawmaker.
Ondo State
In less than six weeks, the local government election in Ondo State would have come and gone, as the state government last December announced its determination to conduct the election before the expiration of its tenure next year.
All machineries towards the conduct of the election have been put in motion to ensure the success of the election while the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) had since rolled out time table for the April 23, 2016 local government election in the state.
The last time local government election was held in the state was in December 2007, but all the elected council chairmen and councillors in the 18 local government areas, who were elected then, were relieved of their positions by the present administration.
This followed the removal of The late Dr Olusegun Agagu as governor of the state by the Court OF Appeal and since then, the local councils have been administered without elected officials.
The sacked council administrators headed for court to challenge the perceived illegality of their removal and the state government has been appointing caretaker chairmen for the administration of all the 18 local government area in the state whose tenure was revalidated by the State House of Assembly every six months.
The litigation against the state government by the former Chairmen has been one of the factors the state government and the State Assembly had been clamouring for the conduct of local government election, but the coming together of the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state in 2014 put an end to the tussle between the sacked chairmen and the state government which was settled out of court.
The announcement of the local government election was however greeted with mixed feelings. Most politicians at the grassroots received the news with enthusiasm, while some parties have signified their intention to boycott the election.
A lot of members of all the parties across the 18 local governments described the election as a welcome development. They said it would afford them opportunity to participate in the running of the administration of the local government. But, the leadership of the two leading parties are not at home with the planned election, as they said it was coming too late and close to the governorship election in the state.
The APC chairman in the state, Isaac Kekemeke said while the party supported democratic structures at the local level, the pending suit at the Supreme Court remained an impediment.
Kekemeke said: “One of the things that the state government has said repeatedly is that it is not conducting the local government election because of this pending suit. This suit is still pending, for seven years it has been pending and local government election has not been conducted.
“This suit is coming up sometime in April, Why the sudden u-turn to conduct this election during the pendency of this case at the Supreme court. We believe that it is not proper, it is not respectful of the judiciary and we do not want to be part of this contempt and disrespect for the judiciary.”
But the publicity secretary of the PDP in the state, Honourable Banji Okunomo wondered why APC in the state that had been clamouring for a local government election was threatening to boycott the election. According to him, the party’s recent position confirms that the party is not popular in the state.
He faulted Kekemeke’s claim on the impending suit and said it had since been withdrawn. He explained that “the suit is an internal affair of the party and the issue has been resolved since it’s a family affair.” Okunomo also said that APC’s claim over opposition not winning local council election in other states lacked merit, noting that opposition parties in Lagos State won some seats during the last local council election. He stated: “The fear they have is the fact that they are not popular and not acceptable to the people. They have no excuse not to participate but they are afraid of defeat.”
But despite all these arguments, the electoral umpire has confirmed that at least 17 parties had shown their intention to participate in the election, while some candidates had been screened as stipulated by the Electoral Act. As ODIEC prepares for the election on April 23, posters of candidates already adorning all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Oyo State
In Oyo state, the last time local government election held was under the immediate past governor of the state, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. Thus, since 2011, the 33 councils in the state have been administered by caretaker committees. Alao-Akala had promised to conduct a fresh local government election if he was reelected in 2011. He lost to the ACN candidate, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. As soon as he settled down in office, he explained that it would amount to contempt of court to conduct local government election, following a ruling by a High Court sitting in Ibadan that the dissolution of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) by the Oyo State government on June 2, 2011, was unconstitutional, null and void. The court also declared that the dissolved members were entitled to continue functioning as officers in their various capacities until their tenure lapsed on September 5, 2012.
This position of the court, according to Governor Ajimobi, incapacitated his government to dabble into local government election. So, the government has continued to appoint heads of transition committee to administer the affairs of the local government councils in the state, with intermittent renewal of their tenure within six months.
The OYSIEC, according to its website, on March 17, 2016, has only conducted elections into the Council areas in the state on four occasions: 2002, 2004, May 2007 and December 2007.
Some opposition parties in the state said the absence of democratically elected government at the council level had negatively impacted on local government administration in the state.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Social democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo state, Alhaji Akeem Azeem posited: “The reason local government election has not been held should be directed to the APC-led administration in the state. They owe the public explanations on the matter. However, they have announced that the poll will hold his year and we pray this happens and if it does, we shall participate and hope the outcome will be a true reflection of the wishes of the people.”
The image maker of PDP in the state and former member of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Kehinde Salawu, decried the absence of elected government at the local council level. His words: “The refusal of the APC administration to conduct the council election almost five years of their ruling is very unfortunate and undemocratic. They are not practising democracy. They deprive the good people of Oyo State dividends of democracy.”
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Yomi Layinka informed Nigerian Tribune that the governor should not be blamed for the state’s inability to conduct the election in the past years. He revealed that the issue had been resolved, and the election would hold as promised by the governor. He added that the government was currently working on the list of the likely members of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) for onward presentation to the House of Assembly for ratification. Layinka, in a statement, also corroborated Sadare’s claim in reference to Governor Ajimobi’s statement that elections shall hold in the next few months into all the 33 local governments across the state.
Additional report by Oluwole Ige, Yinka Olukoya, Sam Nwaoko, Biola Azeez, Yinka Oladoyinbo, Akin Adewakun, Lekan Olabulo, Chuks Okparaocha, Hakeem Gbadamosi and Tunde Ogunesan
Creation of LCDAs is a win-win situation — Ogun House c/man on Justice, ethics and public petitions
Honourable Adebowale Ojuri is a member, Ogun State House of Assembly representing Odogbolu state constituency and Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Ethics and Public Petitions. He spoke on why the House is giving priority attention to the issue of creation of LCDAs. Excerpts:
The
Executive Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun recently sent
the list of proposed LCDAs to Ogun State House of Assembly for
approval. Do you think LCDAs creation is necessary at this point?
The answer is Yes. If you look at the whole essence of the various tiers of government, moving from federal, to state to local government, it is to bring governance closer to the people. The essence of administration is to ensure that the dividends are better seen and appreciated.
For example, now we have a local government as big as Odogbolu with 15 wards. If the council secretariat is at Odogbolu, people living at Mobalufon area will have to travel half an hour to get to the council secretariat. With the new LCDA (Leguru LCDA), we at Ala and those living at Mobalufon area will get to Ala within 10 minutes.
That is one of the advantages. LCDAs give the Chairmen the opportunity to look inwards. This will result in a shift in paradigm as regards the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). As we already know, the same experiment worked in Lagos State, it has actually brought much development to the rural areas of Lagos State than the old LGs. If we look at Victoria Island and Lekki, a lot of development is going on in Lekki phase I, Lekki phase II and Ajah than Victoria Island axis ditto here, because we have a lot of development in areas close to Ijebu Ode and Odogbolu. With LCDAs, that development can spread more evenly. So, I agree with the LCDA concept.
What is really going to be the function of the Local Council Development Areas?
Local Council Development Areas are to enhance government interest in grassroot administration and development. It becomes obvious overtime that to effectively develop, the people must be adequately mobilised because a purposeful combination of the local effort with that of government with the objective of improving socio-economic conditions and encourage political participation is a key factor in rural development.
The LCDAs, when created, will represent the objective expression of the people and it will enhance political participation, efficient service delivery, resource mobilisation and a good number of local citizens will have the opportunity of being involved in the management of local affairs.
There is need for efficient service delivery to the local people and this can be met speedily and as efficiently as possible if the LCDAs are created. Also, LCDAs have a way of promoting economic development from below which gives priority to rural development; enhances a more effective use of land and labour, and inculcates collective action in solving many of the problems confronting agriculture.
If the system is truly local, it provides special opportunities for people to complain about the quality of service it renders and about the conduct of the council officials.
Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas have for a very long time been regarded as the training ground for democracy. So, in a sense therefore, the creation of local council development areas is often linked with the desire to promote grassroot democracy.
It is necessary because some wards for the election of councilors are exceptionally large to the extent that some communities don’t know their councilors.
So, local council development areas are needed to open the state to greater opportunities and to achieve the socio-economic development being emphasized by the present administration in Ogun state.
In the face of the current dwindling revenue, do you think the LCDA will be able to fund itself or is there any particular source been looked at by the state government to finance it?
I don’t see local government finance only coming from the central purse. As you are aware, the drop in oil revenue means that the allocations to the local governments are also reducing. The survival of a local council development area should be based on the ability to generate new lines of IGR. In Odogbolu state constituency, we have fantastic opportunity to use agriculture as a new source of income. So, it’s a win win situation.
Osun, with existing 31 local council areas, announced the carving out of 37 LCDAs, just as Ogun set the necessary machinery in motion to legitimise the creation of 31 LCDAs. As part of the constitutional requirement for the creation of local government, Osun last year, conducted a referendum on the proposed LCDAs, through the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC).
Before the creation of 37 additional LCDAs, the case of Lagos was such that the 20 councils catered for its bulging population estimated at about 20 million. Kano, where Jigawa was carved out as a state, has 44 Local Government Areas.
Section 8 (3) of the Constitution specifies the processes for the creation of new local councils. The section empowers state to determine the number of councils they can afford, conduct a referendum on the subject matter, get approval of the state House of Assembly before sending the report to the National Assembly for ratification.
The last phase of the process, which required approval by the National Assembly, triggered the face-off between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the then Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, after he carved 37 LCDAs out of the 20 constitutionally listed local government areas in the state. The administration of Obasanjo had withheld federal allocations to Lagos councils for about five years, only for the Supreme Court to rule that the former president lacked the power to have seized the funds, though the apex court in another breadth declared that the creation of the LCDAs was inchoate. .
Justifying the creation of the councils then, Tinubu had said they were designed as catalysts for development by bringing government closer to the people. Besides, he was miffed that the military created the confusion over the true status of local administration in a true federation. Tinubu said: “If I have to rank them (hottest battles he fought as governor), I think the creation of local governments was my favourite because the processes are clearly stated and well-articulated in the Constitution. And if you do all of that and comply with the constitutional requirements, then you should not be denied. I believe in true federalism. I believe in local government administration, which I think is a service centre for the state. It is wrong to even think that there are three tiers of government in a federal system of government.”
The separate initiatives by Osun and Ogun to create additional councils has thrown up a number of issues and theories.
This is because of the frantic moves being made by the two to justify their action, in view of a larger political configuration not withstanding what some regard as the cost implication of the latest initiative. Another theory fast gaining is if the creation of the LCDAs is a subtle but grand plan by the political elite to hit the ground running ahead the 2019 general election. While there are talks about some politicians forging new alliances that may lead to the formation of a new mega party, a governorship election is slated for later in the year in Ondo State currently under the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), just as it is the governing party in Ekiti State. .
The Lagos experience was remarkable because quite a number of other states in the federation that initially created additional local councils reverted. Rather than defending the constitutionality of their action, they succumbed to pressure from higher political quarters, especially the Presidency and the top echelon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Such states included Jigawa and Katsina, then under the control of the governing party at the centre.
How expedient is LCDAs now?
There is a seeming consensus among stakeholders in the South-West, regardless of political divide or affiliation, on the need for additional council areas in the geo-political. The mutuality is premised on the lopsidedness in the distribution of local government across the six political zones in the country. The zone ranks third as the three zones in the North have the largest number of local councils. The figure is among the criteria for the allocation of federal revenue. The disparity in the distribution of local councils which is skewed against the South-West undermines the fact that the zone contributes the bulk of revenues from other sources other than the sale of crude oil.
Perhaps, the only clear points of departure among a few stakeholders are the timing of the creation of the LCDAs and the perceived political undertone, especially on the part of party that is in government This has sustained the debate on the expediency of the creation of councils in the South-West. The promoters of additional local councils said it was desirable because they will appropriately bring governance closer to the people. Proponents of LCDAs also believe that the new structures will further foster transparency and accountability, as the administrators will be subjected to constant public scrutiny, in view of the new social order being cretaed by the social media, coupled with the increasing awareness and enlightenment on their privileges, rights and responsibility as citizens in a democracy.
While not absolutely opposed to the idea of new councils, some stakeholders in the South-west have expressed reservations on the carving out of LCDAs from existing local council areas listed in the 1999 Constitution, because of the political temperament of a few political leaders. Their contention is that those behind the new councils cannot be wholly considered to altruistic in their motive. The suspicion is that they are more concerned with expanding their areas of political influence ahead of major political contests in the future. So, according to some critics, such councils are designed to expand the existing political empires of those ‘demagogues,’ to further weaken perceived opponents, as new councils will require more enormous resources to establish new individual political structures ahead of elections.
Another school of thought is that the existence of the new council will translate to the duplication of structures of governance with the concomitant bloated bureaucracies and huge overhead cost. Simply put, more resources will be required to run the councils: capital and recurrent expenditure, as well as sundry huge expenses in establishing and oiling the machinery of local administration. Thus, some experts contend that the argument that the new councils will help to boost revenue generation and act as catalysts for grassroots development was indicative of poor leadership. This is because a responsible leadership should be able to demonstrate the capacity and resourcefulness to galvanise resources at any point in time towards carrying out the duty of government to the citizenry. They are of the view that the seeming collapse of local government administration in the country was more about the greed, lack of capacity, honesty and transparency and accountability by the ruling class.
Notwithstanding the mixed feelings in certain quarters on the necessity or otherwise of additional local council areas in the South-West, the preponderance of opinion indicate a welcome development. Many share the sentiments in official quarters that the LCDAs will buoy or fast track development by bringing governance closer to the grassroots. Their position is that the gains indeed outstrip the demerits going by the Lagos experience, where the people now see the need to claim ownership of the LCDAs nearest to them. Critical issues of development, especially on infrastructure are taking to the door steps of those administrating the LCDAs, and where it fell under the purview of state, the matter is referred to the higher quarters.
Besides, the thinking among stakeholders is that Nigerians could start interrogating the issue as it returns to the front burner of national discourse. Critical issues of constitutional incongruity that hampers states from determining the number of local government they can afford to cater for, status of local council as its present designation as the third tier of government is antithetical to the principle of federalism, and the imbalance in the structure in terms of number of councils among the states and zones with its attendant unjust formula for wealth distribution and allocation from the centre, since government is about generating wealth. It is important to address the constitutional confusion which has paved the way for individual states trying to cut corners.
However, the local government reform of 1976, which provided the guidelines for local governments in the country, for the first time, involved the Federal Government in the funding of local governments. The local councils began to receive statutory share of federation accounts and state revenue. But one of the reforms that many found most nauseating was the decision to legitimise local councils as the third tier of government, which a lof of experts described an an outright aberration to the principle of federalism. The government soon established the Local Government Service Commission and increased the local government share of the federation accounts to 25 per cent thereby boosting their revenue base and confidence and power to equip them for their constitutional role. Section 162 of the 1999 constitution guarantees the right of the local government to receive statutory allocation of the revenue from both the federation account and state resource, while the fourth, schedule of the same constitution spells out the functions of the local government. At present, the 774 constitutionally recognised local government areas are empowered to provide social services like healthcare centers, electrification, pipe bore water and accessible roads. Their eight main sources of revenue include rates, grants, statutory, allocations, fees and charges, fines, earnings and profits, loans and miscellaneous. Under miscellaneous, revenue can be generated from the payment of levies like developmental and educational levies; rents paid for using any land or building belonging to a local government; gifts and donations from individuals, philanthropists and corporate bodies.
The predicament of the local governments is made more precarious because of the unending compromise by unions of local council employees on the issue of autonomy for that tier of government. It prefers the current status quo of funding, whereby local government enjoys statutory allocations from the federation account, ostensibly because of the overbearing influence and utter disregard for the letters of the constitution by states over issues concerning local government, especially funding. The State Houses of Assembly too have equally allowed opportunities to be truly independent slip by because of the fear of the executive arm of government. This was amply evident during the various attempts to review or amend the 1999 Constitution as they blatantly spurned those opportunities because of the overbearing influence of the executive. All this has crystallised in the mutual suspicion between opposition parties and those in power on the desirability of LCDAs.
Osun State
In the midst of raging controversy for the delay in conducting local government election in Osun State, Governor Rauf aregbesola announced the dissolution of dissolved the caretaker committees in all the 30 local government areas in the state and the creation of 31 Local Development Council Areas (LCDAs). It brought the number of the local councils in Osun to 61.
Besides, he appointed 61 council managers, who are civil servants on Grade Level 14 to pilot the affairs of the local governments. He justified the carving out of the LCDAs from the existing local councils despite the current financial challenges of the state on the need to bring about rapid development. He said his administration gave a sufficient consideration to the matter, stressing that necessary procedures had been instituted to reduce cost, as the new LCDAs are to pursue aggressive mobilisation drive.
“The primary responsibilities of our new local government system are sanitation, market management and revenue mobilisation and generation. This is consistent with local government administration worldwide.
“The beauty of this new system is its parliamentary nature, which requires the chairman and the vice chairman to be elected by the councillors from among their own ranks, thereby saving cost”, Aregbesola added.
However, some pundits believe that the decision of Aregbesola to create the LCDAs was politically motivated, especially ahead of the 2018 governorship election. To them, creation of the LCDAs was targeted at giving a relative advantage to his party, APC, over rival parties, as the councils but nothing but baits for the people at the grass roots. A political analyst, who pleaded anonymity, averred that “The governor is a political strategist, who knows the dynamics of politics and how to explore new policy to achieve a long-term political gain. Of what benefit will the creation of the new LCDAs be to the people? The existing local governments are not being properly funded due to lack of financial autonomy. Salaries of council workers are not regular and you are creating additional 31 LCDAs. The claim that the new LCDAs will bring development closer to the masses is deceptive and a calculated move to influence the people ahead of the 2018 governorship poll.”
Since he became governor via a Court of Appeal judgment in Ibadan which sacked the government of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, on November 10, 2010 the Aregbesola’s administration is yet to conduct a local government election. The development is generating concern among major stakeholders in the state, with the leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claiming that fear of defeat in the council poll if held is the major cause.
But, Aregbesola blamed the opposition for the delay, citing litigations as the major impediment to the processes that would culminate to the conduct of the council poll, where councillors and chairmen would emerge. Shedding light on the controversy, he said the matter was before the court, and that since he came into office through a judicial process, he would allow all the litigations surrounding the councils before his coming into the office to be settled or resolved through a court of competent jurisdiction.
Speaking on the development, former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in Osun, Barrister Kolapo Alimi laid the blame over the failure to organise council poll at the doorstep of the PDP, accusing them of instituting litigations at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, in Abuja over the matter.
Alimi, who spoke in a telephone chat said “when this government came on board, there was a democratically elected government at the local government level. But, in December 2011, the Supreme Court dissolved the elected executive chairmen at the councils. Then, the constitution of OSSIEC, which was in place was challenged by a member of the State House of Assembly at the High Court”.
“The PDP challenged the dissolution of the OSSIEC. They could not challenge the sack of the local government chairmen because it was a Supreme Court ruling. They went to the Court of Appeal in Akure to challenge the High Court judgment that dissolved OSSIEC and the Appeal Court upheld the High Court ruling. After the Court of Appeal ruling, Governor Aregbesola constituted another OSSIEC”, he asserted.
According to Alimi, they subsequently appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court. The case is, at present, before the apex court. They included in their brief that we constituted OSSIEC during the interval they filed their appeal. That was why we asked OSSIEC to stay action on the preparations for the poll.
But, the PDP denied being responsible for the delay in the conduct of council poll, arguing that the litigation instituted by the dissolved members of OSSIEC at the Supreme Court is not justifiable excuse for the failure of Aregbesola’s government to organise the election at the grassroot level six years after he assumed power as the governor of Osun State
The publicity secretary of the Osun PDP, Prince Bola Ajao, who spoke to our correspondent in Osogbo posited that “the APC-led administration is taking Osun people for a ride. At one point in time,they would blow hot, at another time, they would blow cold. At a time, when it sooths them, they would say we are going to conduct local government election. In another breath, they would say it is one imaginary opposition that is responsible for their failure to do so”.
While accusing the government of playing politics with the council poll, he argued that “it is unfortunate that they are shying away from the dictates of the Nigeria’s constitution, which says we must have a democratically elected government at the third tier”.
LGs and LCDAs in Ekiti State
The games that had been played with the conduct of local government elections by politicians caused the people’s scepticism about incumbent Governor Ayodele Fayose’s promise to conduct LG polls. What is more, a few weeks before the end of his tenure, former Governor Kayode Fayemi, had announced the creation of 19 LCDAs in the state and appointed caretaker chairmen to head the councils. The creation of the additional councils caused mixed feelings in the state. And the fate of the LCDAs was already decided because Fayose, who would take over government in a few weeks then, had repeatedly expressed his opposition to the creation of the new councils. Thus, it was not a surprise that the LCDAs died a natural death when Fayose took over.
To many Ekiti people, the LCDAs were dead on arrival because of both the timing of their creation and the funds with which to fund them. Some even claimed that the new councils were created as a trap, alleging that they were meant to set the benefitting communities against the government which was sure to ignore them.
The 19 LCDAs were in addition to the 16 local government areas already existing in the state, thereby bringing their number to 35. How to fund the new councils, as well as how to resolve the numerous issues that cropped up in the build-up to the announcement of the councils, was also believed became an issues among various people in the state.
However, on December 19, 2015, local government elections were held in Ekiti. To many in the state, the poll was “a promise kept” by the state governor, who had promised among other things on his assumption of office on October 14, 2014, that he would conduct local government elections.
There was scepticism when the governor made the announcement that elections would be conducted into the councils because there hadn’t been any election in the state in about 12 years. The last time local government elections held in the state was when Chief Segun Oni was the governor.
Kwara State
In Kwara State, agitators for new council areas have kept in suspense by the government over their demands as a proposal for the creation of new LCDAs which was muted by the state government in 2014, remains on the drawing board. A committee saddled with the assignment was under the chairmanship of a chieftain of the APC and the former chairman of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Alhaji Kawu Baraje.
The current financial situation of the state, coupled with dwindling allocation accruable to the state appear to have made the state government to keep the matter in the cooler.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Communication, Dr Muideen Akorede, simply said the government was still studying the report on the creation of LCDAs.
However, the decision will also be based on a sustained improvement in state finances, he said.
Alhaji Muyideen Aliu, who is a community leader at Adewole/Madawaki area of Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state, said the proposal for creation of LCDAs was a welcome development.
“It is good, as it will bring governance to the grassroots. More opportunities will be created for youths that are not at present engaged. At Adewole/Madaki area of Ilorin, we want an LCDA created, as it will increase our level of participation in government. We have resources; we have the land. We can maintain and generate money for its sustenance,” he said.
The last council election in Kwara State was held in October /November 2013. So, the expectation is that fresh local government election will be conducted this year because the tenure of the council chairmen is a three-year term. All the 16 local government chairmen are made up of APC members.
Kogi State
In Kogi State, local government authorities will wind up by May 5 as the present executives in the 21 Local Government Areas of the state were inaugurated on May 6, 2013 after an election that was conducted on May 4, 2013.
However, upon the assumption of office of the chairmen, they were faced with series of litigations following which they were eventually sent packing in November 2014. The then govenor, Capt Idris Wada thereafter appointed Senior Special Assistants to oversee the administration of the councils.
But the Court of Appeal, in November 2015, ordered that the chairmen be returned to office and that truncated the tenure of the SSAs. The chairmen returned to office and continued with their tenure which is expected to end after three years of taking oath of office.
However, the raging political drama in the state does not make the conduct of a local government election a priority at the expiration of the tenure of the present chairmen in the next two months.
The state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had, after his inauguration, dissolved the board of the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KSIEC) without any replacement yet. With the constitutional provision that the SIEC must be in place for at least 90 days before it can conduct election, then elected officials will not succeed the present occupiers of the chairmanship seats.
Ogun State
The proposal by the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun for 31 LCDAs is already being debated by the state House of Assembly. He had forwarded the proposal to the assembly barely 24 hours after his Osun State counterpart, Aregbesola announced the creation of 31 from the existing local government areas in the state.
Amosun’s reason for taking the initiative was similar to the ones advanced by his colleague, which is to bring governance to the door step of the people. He said the creation of the LCDAs was in furtherance of the government’s attempt to meet the yearnings of the people of the state through the delivery of democratic dividends. He explained the initiative would bring government nearer to the people and engender development.
Judging from the debate on the floor of the State House of Assembly so far, the decision of the governor on the matter appears to have gone down well with majority of the stakeholders in the state. All the lawmakers, who contributed to the debate, applauded the move and stressed the need to expedite action on the proposal for the LCDAs.
Lagos State
The creation of 31 Local Council Development Areas LCDAs in Osun State by the state governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola again brought to the fore the politics and intrigues that usually go with the administration of that tier of government in Nigeria.
Interestingly, Aregbesola’s recent action has re-ignited in the minds of Nigerians, especially those in the South-West, a similar episode in Lagos, some years ago, when the then state governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu decided to create an additional 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) from the existing 20 local government councils, an action that drew the wrath of the Presidency.
The exit of Obasanjo did not bring an end to the face-off between the Federal Government and Lagos State over the creation of the new councils and other attendant issues. His predecessors, late President Umaru Yar’Adua had written a letter to Governor Babatunde Fashola, on the intention of the Federal Government to seek true, correct and proper interpretation of Section 8 subsection (3) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution, as the apex court had declared that the creation of the 37 LCDAs was incognate.
While Lagos State has always been seen by many as an epitome of positive developments and good governance, not a few believe that constituting local government administrations in the state has not always been without its issues.
For instance, since the last set of council chairmen was elected in October 2011, more than four years ago, the state has not been able to conduct any election at that level, even after their three-year tenure expired in October 2014.
Instead of conducting elections into the various offices within the councils, the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), only directed council chairmen to hand over the management of the councils to Executive Secretaries, a supposedly temporary arrangement, but which seems to be having a life of its own since the administration of these councils is still in the hands of these Executive Secretaries today.
But, the questions on the lips of Nigerians, especially residents of the state have been: why has it been difficult for Lagos State to organise elections at this tier of government, despite its much-touted sophistication? Besides, why would a state that prides itself as running a populist government always develop cold feet whenever the issue of constituting new administrations at that level, considered nearest to the people, arises?
Opinions are however divided among those who spoke concerning this contentious issue. For instance, while defending the state over the issue, sometime ago, the then Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Ademorin Kuye, had attributed the failure of the state to hold elections at that level to inability of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide outstanding permanent voters cards (PVCs) belonging to the state.
According to him, the state had some outstanding Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to collect from the nation’s electoral body, a development the commissioner argued had hindered the state electoral commission from conducting the local government polls, a claim that has since been punctured by many.
‘I’ve listened to this argument, but you will discover that it sounds logical. For instance, the state that was complaining about having outstanding cards with INEC had since gone ahead to conduct a governorship election after this period,’ argued Mr. Owoseni Mayowa, a resident of Iyana Ipaja, a suburb of the metropolis.
Mayowa insisted that the LASEIC was just being economical with the truth and that there should be more to this than meet the eye.
Expectedly, the main opposition party in the state, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is also unrelenting in its criticism of the entire process.
Recently, the Party criticised the composition of the state’s electoral commission, noting that some members were simply too biased to be part of the commission.
The state chapter of the party had strongly criticised recent selection and eventual confirmation of four commissioners of the State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), accusing Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the state House of Assembly of “nakedly neglecting due process and flouting the sLate electoral laws.”
According to the party, the law prohibits members of political parties from being part of membership of LASIEC.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, described the inclusion of Mr. Lateef Raji as LASIEC commissioner to conduct council polls in the state as an unequivocal resolve by the governor to rig the proposed exercise in favour of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Lateef Raji has always been a card carrying member of parties from AD, which he acted as chairman during the factionalisation, to being a member of AC; ACN and now APC. He just served as Special Assistant to former Governor Fashola. He presently has his posters and banners in Lagos and Ondo to contest the Ondo governorship election. He is thus unfit and improper to act as umpire in a contest which APC will contest in,” the party said.
According to the PDP, the continuous retention of Justice Fatai Adeyinka (retired) as LASIEC chairman and now confirming Lateef Raji as LASIEC commissioner is conclusive of APC and Governor Ambode as anti-democrats, despot who are desperate to control all the councils in the state.
‘This is insulting the sensibilities of Lagos voters, all well meaning persons must condemn this act. The purported commissioner and the LASIEC chairman must be removed to allow for reasonably fair polls.
‘If they are not removed, the APC can as well continue to violate the political rights of Lagosians to vote for their choice in a free and fair election. They should continue in the illegal, unconstitutional and fraudulent local councils now headed by aberration executive secretaries,’ the PDP said.
But, a lawmaker, Hon. Moshood Oshun, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts (State) and representative of Lagos Mainland Constituency 2 in a chat with the Nigerian Tribune argued that the council polls had not held because the state’s electoral commission had not been briefed on electoral rule by INEC.
‘The LG elections have not been held because the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) is waiting on INEC for the electoral rule, without which it cannot conduct LG elections. So the delay is not LASIEC’s fault but INEC’s.
‘But I can assure you as soon as the electoral rule is made available, LG elections will be held because Lagos State is ready and LASIEC is ready to conduct the elections. There is nothing stopping the state because we are committed to the rule of law which involves the conduct of LG polls so as to guarantee that our democratic set up is not in any way compromised,’ argued the lawmaker.
Ondo State
In less than six weeks, the local government election in Ondo State would have come and gone, as the state government last December announced its determination to conduct the election before the expiration of its tenure next year.
All machineries towards the conduct of the election have been put in motion to ensure the success of the election while the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) had since rolled out time table for the April 23, 2016 local government election in the state.
The last time local government election was held in the state was in December 2007, but all the elected council chairmen and councillors in the 18 local government areas, who were elected then, were relieved of their positions by the present administration.
This followed the removal of The late Dr Olusegun Agagu as governor of the state by the Court OF Appeal and since then, the local councils have been administered without elected officials.
The sacked council administrators headed for court to challenge the perceived illegality of their removal and the state government has been appointing caretaker chairmen for the administration of all the 18 local government area in the state whose tenure was revalidated by the State House of Assembly every six months.
The litigation against the state government by the former Chairmen has been one of the factors the state government and the State Assembly had been clamouring for the conduct of local government election, but the coming together of the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state in 2014 put an end to the tussle between the sacked chairmen and the state government which was settled out of court.
The announcement of the local government election was however greeted with mixed feelings. Most politicians at the grassroots received the news with enthusiasm, while some parties have signified their intention to boycott the election.
A lot of members of all the parties across the 18 local governments described the election as a welcome development. They said it would afford them opportunity to participate in the running of the administration of the local government. But, the leadership of the two leading parties are not at home with the planned election, as they said it was coming too late and close to the governorship election in the state.
The APC chairman in the state, Isaac Kekemeke said while the party supported democratic structures at the local level, the pending suit at the Supreme Court remained an impediment.
Kekemeke said: “One of the things that the state government has said repeatedly is that it is not conducting the local government election because of this pending suit. This suit is still pending, for seven years it has been pending and local government election has not been conducted.
“This suit is coming up sometime in April, Why the sudden u-turn to conduct this election during the pendency of this case at the Supreme court. We believe that it is not proper, it is not respectful of the judiciary and we do not want to be part of this contempt and disrespect for the judiciary.”
But the publicity secretary of the PDP in the state, Honourable Banji Okunomo wondered why APC in the state that had been clamouring for a local government election was threatening to boycott the election. According to him, the party’s recent position confirms that the party is not popular in the state.
He faulted Kekemeke’s claim on the impending suit and said it had since been withdrawn. He explained that “the suit is an internal affair of the party and the issue has been resolved since it’s a family affair.” Okunomo also said that APC’s claim over opposition not winning local council election in other states lacked merit, noting that opposition parties in Lagos State won some seats during the last local council election. He stated: “The fear they have is the fact that they are not popular and not acceptable to the people. They have no excuse not to participate but they are afraid of defeat.”
But despite all these arguments, the electoral umpire has confirmed that at least 17 parties had shown their intention to participate in the election, while some candidates had been screened as stipulated by the Electoral Act. As ODIEC prepares for the election on April 23, posters of candidates already adorning all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Oyo State
In Oyo state, the last time local government election held was under the immediate past governor of the state, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. Thus, since 2011, the 33 councils in the state have been administered by caretaker committees. Alao-Akala had promised to conduct a fresh local government election if he was reelected in 2011. He lost to the ACN candidate, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. As soon as he settled down in office, he explained that it would amount to contempt of court to conduct local government election, following a ruling by a High Court sitting in Ibadan that the dissolution of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) by the Oyo State government on June 2, 2011, was unconstitutional, null and void. The court also declared that the dissolved members were entitled to continue functioning as officers in their various capacities until their tenure lapsed on September 5, 2012.
This position of the court, according to Governor Ajimobi, incapacitated his government to dabble into local government election. So, the government has continued to appoint heads of transition committee to administer the affairs of the local government councils in the state, with intermittent renewal of their tenure within six months.
The OYSIEC, according to its website, on March 17, 2016, has only conducted elections into the Council areas in the state on four occasions: 2002, 2004, May 2007 and December 2007.
Some opposition parties in the state said the absence of democratically elected government at the council level had negatively impacted on local government administration in the state.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Social democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo state, Alhaji Akeem Azeem posited: “The reason local government election has not been held should be directed to the APC-led administration in the state. They owe the public explanations on the matter. However, they have announced that the poll will hold his year and we pray this happens and if it does, we shall participate and hope the outcome will be a true reflection of the wishes of the people.”
The image maker of PDP in the state and former member of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Kehinde Salawu, decried the absence of elected government at the local council level. His words: “The refusal of the APC administration to conduct the council election almost five years of their ruling is very unfortunate and undemocratic. They are not practising democracy. They deprive the good people of Oyo State dividends of democracy.”
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Yomi Layinka informed Nigerian Tribune that the governor should not be blamed for the state’s inability to conduct the election in the past years. He revealed that the issue had been resolved, and the election would hold as promised by the governor. He added that the government was currently working on the list of the likely members of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) for onward presentation to the House of Assembly for ratification. Layinka, in a statement, also corroborated Sadare’s claim in reference to Governor Ajimobi’s statement that elections shall hold in the next few months into all the 33 local governments across the state.
Additional report by Oluwole Ige, Yinka Olukoya, Sam Nwaoko, Biola Azeez, Yinka Oladoyinbo, Akin Adewakun, Lekan Olabulo, Chuks Okparaocha, Hakeem Gbadamosi and Tunde Ogunesan
Creation of LCDAs is a win-win situation — Ogun House c/man on Justice, ethics and public petitions
Honourable Adebowale Ojuri is a member, Ogun State House of Assembly representing Odogbolu state constituency and Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Ethics and Public Petitions. He spoke on why the House is giving priority attention to the issue of creation of LCDAs. Excerpts:
The
Executive Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun recently sent
the list of proposed LCDAs to Ogun State House of Assembly for
approval. Do you think LCDAs creation is necessary at this point?The answer is Yes. If you look at the whole essence of the various tiers of government, moving from federal, to state to local government, it is to bring governance closer to the people. The essence of administration is to ensure that the dividends are better seen and appreciated.
For example, now we have a local government as big as Odogbolu with 15 wards. If the council secretariat is at Odogbolu, people living at Mobalufon area will have to travel half an hour to get to the council secretariat. With the new LCDA (Leguru LCDA), we at Ala and those living at Mobalufon area will get to Ala within 10 minutes.
That is one of the advantages. LCDAs give the Chairmen the opportunity to look inwards. This will result in a shift in paradigm as regards the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). As we already know, the same experiment worked in Lagos State, it has actually brought much development to the rural areas of Lagos State than the old LGs. If we look at Victoria Island and Lekki, a lot of development is going on in Lekki phase I, Lekki phase II and Ajah than Victoria Island axis ditto here, because we have a lot of development in areas close to Ijebu Ode and Odogbolu. With LCDAs, that development can spread more evenly. So, I agree with the LCDA concept.
What is really going to be the function of the Local Council Development Areas?
Local Council Development Areas are to enhance government interest in grassroot administration and development. It becomes obvious overtime that to effectively develop, the people must be adequately mobilised because a purposeful combination of the local effort with that of government with the objective of improving socio-economic conditions and encourage political participation is a key factor in rural development.
The LCDAs, when created, will represent the objective expression of the people and it will enhance political participation, efficient service delivery, resource mobilisation and a good number of local citizens will have the opportunity of being involved in the management of local affairs.
There is need for efficient service delivery to the local people and this can be met speedily and as efficiently as possible if the LCDAs are created. Also, LCDAs have a way of promoting economic development from below which gives priority to rural development; enhances a more effective use of land and labour, and inculcates collective action in solving many of the problems confronting agriculture.
If the system is truly local, it provides special opportunities for people to complain about the quality of service it renders and about the conduct of the council officials.
Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas have for a very long time been regarded as the training ground for democracy. So, in a sense therefore, the creation of local council development areas is often linked with the desire to promote grassroot democracy.
It is necessary because some wards for the election of councilors are exceptionally large to the extent that some communities don’t know their councilors.
So, local council development areas are needed to open the state to greater opportunities and to achieve the socio-economic development being emphasized by the present administration in Ogun state.
In the face of the current dwindling revenue, do you think the LCDA will be able to fund itself or is there any particular source been looked at by the state government to finance it?
I don’t see local government finance only coming from the central purse. As you are aware, the drop in oil revenue means that the allocations to the local governments are also reducing. The survival of a local council development area should be based on the ability to generate new lines of IGR. In Odogbolu state constituency, we have fantastic opportunity to use agriculture as a new source of income. So, it’s a win win situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment