By Chekwube Nzomiwu
The importance of the local government system cannot be overemphasized. Besides bringing the government and development closer to the people, especially rural dwellers, it promotes democracy and popular participation in politics. The local government also serves as a training ground for future leaders at the state and national levels. Additionally, it contributes to economic growth through the provision of secure and stable environment for businesses to thrive.
Although the structure and functions of the local government differ from country to country, here in Nigeria, it operates as the third tier of government, under the state and federal government, as the second and first tiers, respectively. The functions of the local government include the collection of rates, building and management of markets, construction and maintenance of rural roads, naming of streets and roads and numbering of houses, registration of births, deaths and marriages. Its functions also extend to the administration and funding of basic education and primary healthcare.
Regrettably, since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999, the local government system in Nigeria has had a chequered history. Although the military started the transition to civil rule with nationwide local government elections in December 1998, today, many elected governors run the local government system with appointed officials. This is contrary to the provisions of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), guaranteeing the system of local government by democratically elected councils.
Several attempts to disentangle local government administration from the apron strings of governors, such as the Executive Order 10 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2020, have met stiff resistance from the states’ chief executives who deployed all means possible, including court cases, to maintain the status quo.
The poor performance of the councils over the years has been linked to the “vested interest” of governors in local government affairs in their states. A typical case study is Anambra State, where the local government administration has become moribund for almost a decade now, owing to the refusal of successive governors to conduct council elections.
Back in 2013, when Mr. Peter Obi was in power, Anambra State came under fire from the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) for not conducting council polls for seven consecutive years of that administration. Obi finally bowed to pressure and conducted local government elections, four months before he left office in March 2014.
Chief Willie Obiano took over power from Obi, but did not fare better. In spite of pressure from the Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU) and other quarters for the conduct of council polls, Obiano used caretaker committees to run the affairs of the 21 local government areas in Anambra State throughout his eight years in office. Under Obiano, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) became moribund.
When Professor Charles Soludo assumed office as governor of Anambra State in March this year, expectations were high of a new dawn in local government administration in Anambra State, given his antecedents as a distinguished academic, World Bank consultant, former chief economic adviser to the President and one-time Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria/chief executive of National Planning Commission.
The expectations rose higher two months into the life of the Soludo administration when, in May, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Charles Nwabunwanne, revealed that plans were in place for the governor to reconstitute ANSIEC for the conduct of the long-awaited local government elections in the state. No such thing has happened till date.
By the time of writing this piece, ANSIEC is yet to be reconstituted, while the initial enthusiasm that Soludo would hold council polls within record time is gradually waning. Recent happenings in the state show that Anambra people may wait a little longer for the much anticipated turning point in local government administration.
In August, a non-governmental organisation, Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC), faulted the decision of Governor Soludo to appoint caretaker committees for the councils. The country director of GSAC, Mrs. Amaka Nweke, who declared the position of her group in a statement made available to the media, asked the governor to jettison the decision to appoint caretaker committees for the councils.
Despite “the hue and cry,” Prof. Soludo went ahead to inaugurate appointed transition chairmen for all the 21 local governments in the State. They were inaugurated a few days after the Anambra State House of Assembly screened and confirmed their appointment. For now, the duration of the transition committees remain unknown, with no indication of any plans whatsoever to hold council election in the nearest future.
Meanwhile, the governor’s attention appears to be focused on combating the menace of insecurity in the State. This is quite commendable, bearing in mind that very little or nothing could be achieved by any government in an atmosphere of insecurity.
However, keen observers of political developments in Anambra State think that insecurity should not be an excuse for the prolongation of the conduct of local government elections in the State. If states like Kaduna and Katsina that are under the siege of bandits, could conduct successful council polls, nothing stops Anambra State from doing the same.
In fact, a school of thought argues that the widespread insecurity in Nigeria is a byproduct of the defective local government system operated in the country over the years, in total contravention of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which stipulates that the affairs of the councils must be run by democratically elected chairmen and councilors.
It would be recalled that in May last year, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan (GCON), attributed the security challenges in Nigeria to the absence of a functional local government system. Lawan, who spoke with State House correspondents, explained that “the lack of local government autonomy potentially inhibits solutions as well as efforts by the federal and state governments towards addressing the nation’s security challenges.”
Scientific evidence from research further supports duly constituted local councils and not “the illegality” known as transition committees. In a paper titled, “Local Government System and Escalation of Insecurity in Nigeria,” published in the International Journal of Public Administration and Management Research (IJPAMR) Vol.6, No.4, June 2021, Ubi and Akie said “that if the local government functions at full capacity, rural people will be empowered, rural urban migration curbed, local economy enhanced, youths will be provided with direct and indirect jobs, and thus, they will not be given to crime which triggers insecurity…”
In conclusion, I cited the authorities above, hoping that Prof. Soludo, being an intellectual, will fully appreciate my canvass here and quickly do the needful by reconstituting ANSIEC immediately, to ensure that Anambra State holds council polls, not later than the second quarter of next year.
•Nzomiwu writes from Awka, Anambra State.