ASHENEWS reports that former Ekiti state governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has been advised to remain calm and stop interfering with judicial decisions, particularly those that have been definitively ruled on by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
It will be recalled that Fayose was recently in the news following the Supreme Court’s declaration of Local Government autonomy, where he asserted that nobody can become a Local Government chairman without a governor’s input.
“I am not a lawyer. I am a politician and by God’s grace today, I am an elder statesman. While I love and do not believe that any government should take local government funds, may I say to you very clearly this evening that you cannot take the baby from the mother. There is nobody that can become council chairman without a governor. Anybody telling you otherwise is wasting his time,” the Ekiti governor said.
But in a swift reply, a writer and regular contributor to editorial opinions from the United Kingdom on Nigerian affairs, Abanikanda Olumoro, countered the former Ekiti State Governor, stating that Fayose was wrong.
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“If you rig this time, you will be consumed by it. The candidates will defend their votes. Every candidate and their supporters will apply the Kano voters’ protection model. No more jibiti!” Olumoro said.
To convince the public against what he called the wrong impression being created by Fayose, whose comments appear to challenge the rights of the Supreme Court to declare autonomy for Local Governments, Olumoro said, “We need something new. It is part of federalism. The governor does not need to conduct elections for Local Governments.”
He continued, “I think conducting elections into LGAs will now attract quality professionals to participate fully in local government elections. Because INEC has an image problem with the manner it handled the past elections, transparency is still a continuing credibility doubt.”
On the way forward, Olumoro suggested, “For a truly independent election at the local government level, neither INEC nor SIEC should be involved.
“To achieve transparent and fair elections without interference or direct involvement of Federal and state institutions unconnected with elections, the Constitution should be amended to provide for Electoral Commissions with members from civil society, Labour, Teachers Union, NUJ, Women organizations, and a member each from the six geopolitical zones at the Federal level and a representative each from the three Senatorial Districts at the State level, all of whom must be people of unquestionable integrity and nonpartisan.”
He further stated, “The appointments should be on a part-time basis since elections are not conducted all the time. In both cases, the NBA should provide the Chairman, who must be a SAN with unquestionable integrity.”
“We can even go further and abolish SIEC completely and have an Electoral Commission at the Local Government level with eight members based strictly on the earlier recommendation without the additional representation from geopolitical zones or Senatorial Districts.”
He repeatedly emphasized, “State governments should not be allowed to conduct LGA elections.”
Abanikanda also referenced the Delta State government, which recently concluded elections for local government chairmen and legislative councils.
He asserted that any such action by a state governor after the Supreme Court’s ruling would be futile because the apex court’s ruling automatically amends the Constitution’s provisions concerning Local Government.
“It would be an affront to the court of highest jurisdiction for a governor to claim he could make his own decision after the court has decided,” he concluded.
