Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation focused on promoting democratic governance in Nigeria, has expressed concern over the increasing calls for the abolition of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and transfer of the responsibility of conducting local government elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to Yiaga Africa, this proposal is fundamentally flawed and, if implemented, could have far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s 25-year-old democracy.
Yiaga Africa argues that the abolition of SIECs contravenes the constitutional principle of state autonomy, as enshrined in the Constitution.
In a statement issued by the executive director, Samson Itodo, Yiaga said that by centralising the conduct of local government elections under INEC, the proposal undermines the country’s federal structure and erodes the autonomy of the states, potentially leading to an overconcentration of power at the federal level.
“This would weaken the states’ capacity for self-governance and hinder the demand for local government autonomy, which enjoys national consensus,” Yiaga Africa said.
Yiaga Africa further highlighted the extensive mandate of INEC and the burden it already faces in conducting various elections, such as off-cycle governorship elections, bye-elections, and re-run elections.
