The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has called for the scrapping of State Electoral Commissions.
Fagbemi stated that the existence of the commissions is the main impediment to the development of local governments.
He made this at a one-day ‘Discourse on National Nigerians Security Challenges and Good Governance at the Local Government Levels” in Abuja on Monday.
The programme, themed “Nigeria’s Security Challenges and Good Governance at the Local Government Levels,” was organized by the House of Representatives.
Fagbemi highlighted that governors have exploited the shortcomings and gaps in certain sections of the 1999 Constitution to weaken and make local governments ineffective.
The Minister of Justice pointed out that the most prevalent form of abuse in local government is the use of state electoral commissions for sham elections and governors’ preference for appointing caretaker leaders in local governments.
He therefore called for the elimination of State Electoral Commissions to foster true democratic practices within local governments.
His words: “To achieve this, many experts have proposed that there is need for the scrapping of the state independent electoral commission.
“Their functions and powers should be transferred to the independent national electoral commission because the state independent electoral commission remain an appendage to every incumbent governor. This is perceived as the root cause of the problem of local government administration in Nigeria.”
