7th May, 2013
By Odunayo Joseph
Going by the newspaper reports on the local council election held in Kogi State on Saturday, 4 May, 2013, as published in Sunday Tribune and The Nation on Sunday under the titles: “3 Killed During Kogi Council Poll” and “Kogi LG Poll: Ex-Governor Audu’s brother, 3 Others Killed” respectively, well-meaning and patriotic citizens and stakeholders in Kogi State would begin to wonder about how prepared the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) was for the election.
According to reports, apart from the killing of three people, burning of houses in the East Senatorial District and the hospitalization of five people at the Mopa General Hospital in West Senatorial District, total boycott of the election by the opposition parties and apathy of the electorate towards the council poll across the three Senatorial Districts in the state also characterised the council election.
There is no gainsaying that election in Nigeria has often been approached as a do-or-die affair and the recent council poll in Kogi State is by no means not an exception going by what happened during the election.
It is also a known fact that untoward acts and rigging tactics such as stage-managed party primaries, imposition of party candidates, intimidation of voters by overzealous law enforcement officials designed to cause fear and ultimate disenfranchisement of the electorate, undue delay in providing voting materials is no longer a new thing during election in our country.
In fairness to some states’ electoral commissions such as the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), the commission’s effective handling of its duties is commendable going by the large population of the electorate in the state (which is up to or more than that of some countries) and the existence of strong opposition parties in the state. Though apathy has continued to rear its ugly head in some instances, the manner of handling of the election process beginning with voters’ registration, accreditation of the voters on the day of voting and the eventual release of results by the electoral commission is not only commendable but worthy of emulation by other states electoral commissions in the country.
In a situation where a council election organized by a state electoral body is characterized by violence, killing and maiming of people and boycott by the opposition, such election should not only be cancelled but be conducted afresh by INEC, the national body that is charged with the task of conducting the presidential, governorship, senatorial and House of Representatives elections in Nigeria.
The fact remains that many states’ independent electoral commissions in Nigeria remain loyal and solely committed to the whims and caprices of the political party to which the governor in the state belongs and not to the electorate as the case should be. And so long as this situation persists owing to ignorance and the high illiteracy level in the society, the possibility of peaceful and credible council poll will continue to elude this country.
There is need for credible and acceptable poll at the local government level in any part of the country, considering the fact that the closest government to the people at the grassroots is the local government. The advice the ex-Ebonyi Deputy Governor, Chigozie Ogbu, gave during a national workshop on budget implementation and price monitoring in Enugu as reported in the P.M.NEWS of Thursday, 17 November, 2005 on the need for an efficient and service-oriented local government system as opposed to “most public officers, especially politicians, who see their positions not as an opportunity to serve the public but as a God-given opportunity for personal aggrandizement” should be the watchword of all the local councils in Nigeria and this can only be achievable when true representatives of the people are allowed unfettered access to governance at our local government level nationwide.
Without mincing words, there is need for level-playing ground to be created for candidates by all electoral bodies whether at federal or state levels in our country as this is the only way by which unnecessary animosity and bad blood can be eschewed before, during and after election in our country.
•Joseph is Publicity Secretary, Southwest Zone of Okun Dev. Association, •email:odunayojoseph2006@yahoo.com