Senators have admitted that democracy is at best non-existent at the local government level in the country, calling for urgent actions to rescue the third tier of government.
The senators on Thursday, condemned the worrying development across the 36 states where the political party in power always wins 100 per cent or 99% of seats each time a local government council election is conducted.
During plenary in Abuja, they noted a trend in which elections would not be held but results would be declared by State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).
Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, and his colleagues called for measures, including a national dialogue, to discuss solutions to what they described as “sham elections” at the third tier of government.
Akpabio said, “We have to do something and we must do something. We must have a national dialogue, the President (Bola Tinubu) should be there; the governors will be there.
“We are saying that the local government, as a tier of government, has not even been there at all.”
Akpabio’s All Progressives Congress (APC) got only one local government out of the 31 local councils in Akwa Ibom State during last Saturday’s poll won with 30 local governments by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In Benue State, the APC won all the local councils, a scenario replayed in all the states that had conducted their polls so far, with the ruling party in the respective state came out tops.
However, both APC and PDP senators were united on Thursday in condemning the outcome of the polls, which they claimed was manipulated by the state Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, using the state independent electoral commission.
Senators spoke as they debated a motion on “The Sham Local Government of Saturday, 5th October: Abuse of the Constitution and Need for Intervention by the Senate.”
The motion was moved by Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Abba Moro (PDP, Benue-South), and co-sponsored by Sen. Titus Tartenger (APC, Benue North-West); Sen. Emmanuel Udende (APC, Benue North-East); and Sen. Tony Nwoye (LP, Anambra-North).
The Senate, in its resolution,“condemns the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission’s blatant disregard for democratic principles in the sham local government elections of Saturday, 5th October, 2024.”
It also asked the SIEC to conduct polls in areas where voters were disenfranchised last Saturday while urging the federal government to “dey allocations to local government councils where ‘selections’ were done, akin to appointment of caretaker committees.”
Ironically, both senators Udende and Tartenger, who are APC members like Governor Alia, told the Senate that there was no election in Benue State.
“The fact that I am in APC does not mean I will support what is wrong.
“There was no election in Benue State”, Udende declared.
On his part, Sen. Tartenger described what took place in the state last Saturday as “heinous crime” against the people, which must not go unpunished.
“Democracy is being gradually robbed by our leaders at the sub-national levels. We went to Benue thinking that there would be elections only to hear that election took place at the Government House”, alleged.
Tartenger also noted the winners were declared and inaugurated by 4am because those he accused of manipulating the process were “not even sure of themselves.”
Contributing to the debate, Deputy Senate President, Sen. Barau Jibrin, observed that all the political parties and states were guilty of the same offense.
“There is nothing like free and fair elections in our local government. Even a child knows this fact. Nobody even goes out to vote.
“The results are written sometimes a week before the election. It’s a national and democratic calamity”, Jibrin added.
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 championship 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.”
Former Senate President, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, recommended a meeting between the leadership of the National Assembly and President 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”, Lawan said.
Sen Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo-North) recounted how he suffered a similar fate in his state where he lost at fhe 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 told his colleagues.
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