Ahead of the local government elections for the current caretaker executives to be replaced by elected officials, chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak, has expressed fears that the conduct of the exercise could be hampered by some legal bottlenecks.
According to him, unless the relevant sections of the laws that established the commission are amended to be in sync with the Electoral Act 2022, as amended, hopes for the exercise billed for December 2024 could be in futility.
“By the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission Law (AKISIEC) of 2007, the commission is an election management body (EMB) empowered to organise, conduct and supervise local government elections and render advice to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on compilation of voters register, among other salient responsibilities,” he noted.
Speaking during a two-day training/enlightenment exercise for the 2024 local government elections, which ended at the weekend in Uyo, the AKISIEC boss expressed fears that incongruent legal frameworks guiding the commission’s activities since its creation could constrain the body’s quest to conduct and deliver the polls efficiently.
He spoke on the theme, “Emerging Issues in Conducting Elections in Nigeria, Elections Security: Before, During and After the Elections and the Legal Framework for LG Elections in Akwa Ibom.”
