By Abdallah Yunus Abdallah
Following the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court on July 11, 2024, Kaduna State Government has put structures in place for a hitch-free LG poll. This is just as aspirants of the two dominant political parties, the All-Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have commenced campaigns.
Since the 1999 Constitution became operational, the status of Local Governments has been in contention amongst politicians, scholars, and lawyers in Nigeria. Amongst major stakeholders, there is confusion as to whether Local Government is a tier of Government or an administrative unit. In other federal systems of Government, the federating units are the Central and State Governments, and this is clearly spelt out because Local Governments or Counties are regulated by State Governments. However, in Nigeria, the issue is ambiguous, and this has brought about some contradictions, which the 1999 Constitution has sustained.
Section 7(1) states emphatically that “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the government of every state shall, subject to section 8 of this constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance, and functions of such councils.” Yet, Section 7(6a) submits that “the National Assembly shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to Local Government Councils in the federation.” Section 7(6b) added more confusion to the status of Local Governments in Nigeria. It states that “the House of Assembly of a state shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils within the state.”
Furthermore, the confusion has been reinforced in Section 162(6), where the Constitution established the State Joint Local Government Account for the purpose of payment of “all allocations to the Local Government councils of the State from the Federal account and from the Government of the State.” In Section 162(7), the Constitution directs State Governments to pay to Local Government councils its total revenue on the terms prescribed by the National Assembly. Indeed, various attempts to remedy the situation by Constitution amendment have failed.
In May 2024, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), filed suit marked SC/CV/343/2024 at the Supreme Court to strengthen the autonomy of the Local Government areas. On July 11, the Apex Court delivered its verdict, and in his judgment, Justice Agim directed that Local Government allocations from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them henceforth. In addition, the judgment restrained Governors “from collecting funds belonging to the Local Government councils when no democratically elected local government councils are in place.” Also, the Supreme Court ordered that “henceforth no state government should be paid monies standing to the credit of the local government councils.”
After the landmark judgment, most states started gearing up for the conduct of Local Government elections, especially where there are Caretaker Chairmen in office. In particular, Kaduna State Government is all set for the Council polls, and the elections are billed to hold on October 19, 2024. In fact, the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECOM) has already issued a timetable to guide stakeholders. On July 16, SIECOM issued notice of Local Government Council General Election to registered political parties and the public. On the same day, it released election guidelines, election timetable, and signaled the commencement of the election campaign.
Between July 23 and August 23, political parties are expected to conduct their primaries, with SIECOM as observer. Before then, the Commission has reserved July 30 as the date for the collection of Forms KDCF 001 and KDCF 001A, as well as the Data Form for aspirants, amongst other forms. August 21 is the deadline for the submission of all forms. The next day is reserved for the collection of nomination forms KDCF 4F and KDCF 4G from SIECOM’s Local Government Area offices across the State. Thereafter, candidates can commence the payment of non-refundable deposits and presentation of tellers to the Commission. Between August 29 and August 31, the Commission will commence the verification and sorting of forms. On September 2, SIECOM will publish the personal particulars of candidates in their constituencies. Between September 9 and 16, the Commission will screen councillorship and chairmanship candidates at its zonal office and headquarters, respectively. On September 20, the list of validly nominated candidates will be published. By 11:59 pm on October 18, all campaigns must stop, and on October 19, the Local Government election will hold.
Before the release of guidelines, Senator Uba Sani, the Kaduna State Governor, had earlier sworn in Hajiya Hajara Muhammad as the Chairperson of the Kaduna State Electoral Commission (SIECOM). In addition, Dr. Malan Noel Haruna and Dr. Fatima Adamu Kera were also sworn in as Permanent Commissioners of the State Electoral Commission. Similarly, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, swore in Alhaji Abubakar Sadik Musa, Alhaji Ahmed Yahaya, and Halima Sani Aminu, to complete the required number of Commissioners as prescribed in the SIECOM enabling law.
Besides, the Kaduna State House of Assembly passed a bill to amend the State Electoral Law No. 2 of 2021, jettisoning the use of electronic voting machines. In 2018, SIECOM had conducted local government elections via Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), but Section 3 of the amendment bill deleted the phrase “Electronic Voting Machine.” In the new bill, the term “Ballot Box” means a receptacle for the collection of ballot papers, adding that the term “Electronic Device” be deleted wherever it appears in the body of the Law. In addition, the term “Ballot Receipt” has been deleted. According to the law, verification and voting would be done through the use of a manual voter register, with the Commission providing ballot papers and ballot boxes for the conduct of the election.
Right now, aspirants from the two dominant political parties have started indicating interest to occupy the 23 Local Governments in Kaduna State, as their flyers are all over social media, flaunting their credentials. In addition, they have started reaching out to the electorate, unveiling their plans for their constituents. At the latest, primaries will hold on August 23, where the flag bearers who will slug it out on October 19 will emerge.
