Lessons from Ondo LG Poll

AT last, the Local Government election in Ondo State was held last Saturday, January 18, 2025 after suffering several postponements. Originally, it was slated for January 18, 2023, then February and later July 2024, before it was finally held last Saturday due to political parties’ failure to comply with election guidelines and rules.
IT was observed that 34 chairmanship candidates vied for the election in the 18 local government areas of the state while 273 councillorship candidates competed for respective 203 ward seats before the last minute withdrawal of the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who alleged lack of confidence in the electoral process .
IN all, 13 political parties participated in the election. The political parties are the Action Alliance (AA); African Democratic Party (ADP); Action People’s Party (APP); All Progressives Congress (APC) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
OTHERS are the Boot Party (BP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Youth Party (YP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
THE exercise could be said to be free and fair as there was no case of violence in any part of the state as the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) had assured of its commitment to a smooth electoral process by working tirelessly to ensure grassroots democracy which he said is not negotiable.
THE commission also collaborated with security agencies to ensure that the elections were free, fair, peaceful, credible and transparent. This is commendable.
Although, the exercise was peaceful, the turn out was not encouraging as it was lower than what was recorded during the gubernatorial election in November, 2024 in the state.
DESPITE the early distribution of sensitive materials to all 18 Local Government areas of the state, cases of late arrival of election materials and officials were reported in some parts of the state and this resulted in the delayed commencement of voting process. Also, the vehicular restriction was not fully enforced as some vehicles and motorcycles were in operation during the voting process.
LOCAL government elections are essential for enhancing democracy, decentralizing power, and promoting local development. They enable effective governance, representation, and community engagement at the grassroots level. These elections empower communities and foster citizen participation, which is crucial for inclusive governance. By participating in local elections, citizens can help establish robust local governments that meet community needs. Transparent and inclusive electoral processes strengthen democratic institutions and promote sustainable development.
THE quest for local government autonomy in Nigeria has been a recurring issue, which pre-date the country’s political independence. The struggle has thrown up various reforms including the 1976 landmark reforms of the local government system in the country aimed at democratizing the local government administration. Despite the reform measures, the states have continued to maintain strong grip of control over local governments including arbitrary dissolution of elected local government councils by state fiat for varying political reasons.
THE federal government has taken several steps to improve local government administration, including the 1976 and 1988 reforms. These reforms aimed to make local government more responsive to the needs of the people. The 1976 reform established a uniform system of local government administration across the country, established a population criterion for creating local governments, granted local governments financial autonomy, Introduced elective positions, with chairmen as the executive heads, recognized local government as the third tier of government, protected traditional rulers from party politics and gave local government officers and politicians more freedom to operate. The 1988 reforms created mandatory departments and officers to professionalize local government service and also established guidelines for staffing and monitoring local governments.
THE 1999 constitution, like the 1979 constitution, gives states very wide powers to manage issues of local government organisation and structure. The neglect suffered by local government has resulted in a power struggle between the federal and state governments over control at the local level.
IN 2005, another provision was passed into law by the National Assembly, which empowered Local Government Allocation to be paid directly to them, instead of the previous arrangement of having a State-Local Joint Account. Statutory allocation meant for local government was increased to 23 percent. The idea of paying the statutory allocation direct to local government is to forestall the possibility of State Governments’ manipulation of the joint account in their favour. These reforms led to a considerable change in Nigerian administrative and political institutions. It has become a primary level of grassroots democracy and the distribution of socio-economic programmes in Nigeria.
NOW that the federal government has given financial autonomy to the local governments, it will be best for council’s leaders to focus on agriculture especially rice, and fish farming in the riverine areas. In line with this, adequate security must be put in place by relevant stakeholders especially government and community leaders in securing their areas.
THE Hope calls on all chairmen of local governments to give priority to the provision of rural roads and markets for agricultural produce especially the perishable good to encourage easy transportation of their produce. This will in turn have a positive effect on food security.
THE Hope urges the newly elected officials to key into the vision of Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa as he has reiterated the commitment of his administration to the effective running of the local government system in the state in line with the provisions of the law.