Local government autonomy has been a contentious issue in Nigeria for decades which successive administrations had tried to resolve so as to ensure citizens at the grassroot level could enjoy the true dividend of democracy.
However, myriad of challenges such as lack of political will and undue political vested interest on the part of the decision makers made it an herculean task until 2024 when the 10th National Assembly under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the bull by the horn by granting the Local governments the autonomy they truly deserve. Albeit, not without challenges.
In spite of this supposed autonomy, the recent Local government elections in Nigeria particularly in the South Eastern part of the country have reportedly been characterized with untold tales of malpractices, outright highjack of elections materials by the power that be as well as political oppressions.
Recounting his unforgettable ordeal as an outstanding Candidate for Chairmanship under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, Chief Nnamdi Iheoma, who is also
MD/CEO of Sales People Nigeria Limited, said based on his encounters during the last local government election, Local Government autonomy remains a mere “societal excitement” in Nigeria, which did not come with anything different from what we used to experience at the grassroots.
In his words: “Local Government with its robust and vibrant administration is supposed to be the lowest hanging fruit that ought to solve Nigeria’s immediate problems, that’s what I thought”.
“However, what I have come to realize right now is that, the financial autonomy for the local government that the federal government declared remains a mere societal excitement.”
Buttressing his stance, iheoma alluded that virtually all the states in Nigeria that have ever conducted Local Government elections have similar electoral challenges.
“If something as simple as conducting local government elections which is under the purview of the State Government is difficult to conduct, it then underscores the need for the state police”
“Go and check the comparison of all the states that have conducted Local Government elections in Nigeria, what you would see is that, one political party in all these states takes all the seats.
“The worst part is, they are beginning to bring our electoral process into disrepute. Because what you get in most states is an extension of the sole administrator by the governor of the state.
“In some cases, they create problems that they can’t even solve by disrespecting their own rules and laws as regards electoral processes.”
Iheoma recalled how all his campaign efforts and house to house mobilisations within his local government before the election day amount to nothing. Because the elections materials were never released to polling units in Ikeduru LGA therefore the election never took place in his local government.
“We waited for polling materials to arrive at our polling units all day from morning till 4pm. Then when it finally arrived at 5pm, there were no single results sheets”
“These are materials that ought to have been dispatched by the Imo State Election Commission (ISEC) earlier. Eventually, the deployed Executive Officer from ISEC, Mrs Oluchi Oriaku left with police under the guise of picking up the result sheets from the ISEC office and never came back”.
“Despite the fact that the election never took place in my local government (Ikeduru), elections results were being announced by the ISEC, in Imo State”.
Nonetheless, Iheoma suggested several recommendations that would help Nigeria overcome these hydra-headed challenges facing local government autonomy such as absolute financial independence for local governments, constitutional reforms as well as deployment of state policing amongst others.