INEC Chairman claimed that giving INEC control over local government election would strengthen democratic practices in Nigeria.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has announced the electoral commission’s capability of successfully conducting local government elections if saddled with the responsibility by law.
He made this announcement on Thursday during his appearance before the National Assembly joint committee on electoral matters, which is chaired by Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli (APC, Oyo South) to present the budget for the Ondo and Edo off-cycle elections. The chairman further stated that giving INEC control over local government elections would strengthen democratic practices in Nigeria.
However, he emphasised that in order to transfer this duty from state election commissions to INEC, constitutional revisions would be necessary. Raising concerns about the funding for bye-elections across the nation, Yakubu clarified that the commission, which presently holds trouble-free elections for national and state government positions as well as the 62 wards in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area councils, can easily hold the same elections for the 774 local government areas by amending specific electoral laws.
Stating that the commission has made several preparations ahead of September 21, 2024 Edo governorship poll and the November 16, 2024 Ondo governorship election, he said, “We outlined 13 activities leading to the election as required by law, from the publication of notice for the election to the conduct of election and so far, we have implemented eight activities.
“We are on the ninth activity, and not one activity has been shifted by one day and we have implemented those activities both in Edo and Ondo seamlessly.
“As we speak, we have 57 days to the opening of polls in Edo State and we have 113 days to the election in Edo State.”
READ ALSO: INEC declares vacancies in several constituencies across Nigeria, prepares for bye-election
He pleaded with the legislators to expeditiously approve the electoral offenders bill so that the commission would have the authority and means to make arrests, conduct in-depth investigations into electoral offences, and lessen election malpractice.
Yakubu however bemoaned the lack of funding for the off-cycle election. He did, however, point out that the executive arm of government had promised prompt provision of funding.
“The budget presented before the National Assembly for the off-cycle election, made no provisions, let alone the unforeseen and very difficult bye-elections.
“If you asked me in June last year that when the National Assembly was inaugurated, we will be confronted with 18 bye-elections in June 2024 within one year, I would have said no, it’s not possible, but it has happened.
“There was no provision in the budget for the off-cycle elections and we as a commission cannot submit an appropriation bill to the National Assembly. What we do is to approach the executive and we have approached the executive and the approval has been given and will be issued any moment from now. So in terms of that, we are confident that money will be released for the elections,” he said.
Giving a breakdown of how funds were managed in the commission, based on the 40 billion disbursed as statutory budget for 2024, Yakubu said, “We have over 15,000 staff. We are one of the largest workforces in Nigeria and we manage some of the largest facilities. We have offices in each of the 700 local government areas. Anywhere you go in any local government, you are likely to see buildings owned by two agencies. We have 774 facilities. In addition to our state offices, the head office, the electoral institute, we manage one of the largest real estates. So this budget goes into the provision of staff salaries but when we defended the budget, we informed the committees that what was appropriate in the budget was an annual budget.”
In his closing remark, the chairman of the joint committee, Senator Abiodun assured INEC that the National Assembly will continue to support the commission to ensure smooth and fair election.
