The senate urged the federal government to deny allocation of councils where selections instead of elections were conducted.
The senate has condemned strongly, the local government elections conducted in some states across the country describing it as a violation of democratic tenets.
This is as it urged the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission to conduct elections in those places where elections did not hold and allow people to choose the representatives of their choice.
This was sequel to the adoption of a motion titled, “Sham local government elections of Saturday, 5th October, 2024: Abuse of the constitution and need for intervention by the senate,” sponsored by Sen. Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South) and co-sponsored by Sen. Titus Zam (APC, Benue North West), Sen. Memga Udende (APC, Benue North East), and Sen. Tony Nwoye (LP, Anambra North) during Thursday’s plenary.
Moro noted that on the 5th of October, 2024, local government council elections were scheduled to hold in Benue State and in other parts of Nigeria, and while the electorates excitedly trooped out in their numbers to exercise their franchise to elect leaders who will represent their will at the local government councils, they waited for hours in vain as neither election materials nor electoral officers showed up in many of the polling stations and where a semblance of elections took place, winners were denied certificates of return.
According to him, in most places, elections took place in the private homes of the chieftains of the ruling party making the entire process a mere coronation of candidates of the ruling party and not a proper election contemplated under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
He noted that in a federation, elections are the backbone of democracy, allowing citizens to choose their representatives at various levels of government, and the franchise of citizens in Nigeria is sacrosanct and constitutionally guaranteed under Sections 77 to 91 of the constitution, specifically focusing on the citizens’ rights to vote and be voted for.
The two other senators representing Benue state, Sen. Memga Udende (APC, Benue North-East) and Sen. Titus Zam (APC, Benue North-West) while supporting the motion, confirmed that elections failed to hold in the majority of the polling units.
Zam described what took place in the state last Saturday as “heinous crime” against the people, which must not go unpunished.
He said, “You will agree with me that, in a democracy, the election is not just a mere political activity, it is supposed to be an avenue where our mandate, our authority to provide leadership is derived from. That is the whole essence of the election in a democracy and these edifices called democracy, which we are all enjoying, didn’t just come about because of the president. People sacrificed so much to bring about the democracy that is being deliberately deconstructed, destroyed, annihilated, and dismembered by a very few leaders at the subnational level and it comes with concern. All the investments that were put in the election to bring about democracy in this country is now rubbished.”
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He noted the winners were declared and inaugurated by 4am because those he accused of manipulating the process were “not even sure of themselves.”
Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, lamented that people no longer go out to vote and on the day of the election, “when you go out, you don’t see anybody on the streets.” According to him, this is because the results are written before election day. He said, “In fact, Mr. President, it’s a national calamity. So, it is important for us to make sure we correct what’s going on in the name of local government election. We saw in 1999 that when INEC conducted elections to elect those to be councilors and local government chairmen, that election was free and fair.”
Jibrin expressed that Akpabio was able to win one local government in his state, noting that in the majority of cases, the ruling party usually won all the chairmanship seats. He said, “everyone in the whole nation was surprised that Mr Senate President won his own local government. We need to correct what is going on in the name of local government elections. We have to look at our constitution to allow INEC to conduct the elections. We must change the law. Everybody must come on board. We can’t continue like this.”
On his part, the former President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, called for a meeting between the leadership of the national assembly and President Bola Tinubu where they would discuss the issue and liaise with the 36 state governors to agree on the way forward.
“This is going to be a very difficult issue to resolve by National Assembly alone. It’s not enough to say INEC should conduct the elections because even INEC too has issues. To remove state independent election bodies, we must carry the state governors along,” he said.
Sen. Buhari Abdulfatai (APC, Oyo North) recalled a similar fate in his state where he lost at the polling unit right in front of his house. “Even in my own state (Oyo), I am representing 13 local governments, but in front of my house, I lost the election,” he lamented.
The Senate thereafter resolved to condemn the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission’s alleged blatant disregard for democratic principles in the local government elections of Saturday, 5th October, 2024. It also urged the commission to conduct elections in those place where elections did not hold and allow the people to choose the representatives of their choice.
It further urged the federal government to deny allocations to councils where ‘selections’ were done, akin to appointment of caretaker committees.
