SOLUDO AND ANAMBRA LG POLLS

The people should be empowered politically at the grassroots through the conduct of local government election, argues Chekwube Nzomiwu

The last time I commented on Anambra State in October last year, I passionately appealed to the Governor, Professor Charles Soludo to consider conducting local government elections in the state, latest by the second quarter of this year. I made this plea on the assumption that he would take advantage of the euphoria of the February/March general elections to break the jinx of the prolonged non-conduct of local government elections in the State.

One month to the end of the timeline I suggested to the governor, there is no sign that Anambra State will witness local government election in the near future. Instead of elected council chairmen and councilors, as the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended) stipulates, handpicked officials continue to “illegally” run the 21 local government areas in the state under the bogus title of “Transitional Council”. Section 7 of the Constitution guarantees the system of local government by democratically elected officials.

The last local government election in Anambra State was conducted in November 2014, at the twilight of the administration of Governor Peter Obi. Obi conducted the election, following intense pressure mounted on him and other erring governors by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). While Obi conducted only one local government election during his eight-year reign as Governor of Anambra State, his successor, Willie Obiano “shamelessly” did not hold any election in the eight years he governed Anambra State.

The coming of Soludo in March 2022 rekindled the hope of holding council polls in Anambra State. Many people thought that being an intellectual with vast public service experience, including five years of service as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he should know better than his predecessors, the importance of grassroots governance. This is turning out not to be the case. Fifteen months after Soludo’s assumption of office, the jinx of non-conduct of council polls in Anambra remains unbroken.

So far, his administration has not deemed it fit to reconstitute the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), the body saddled with the responsibility of conducting local government elections in Anambra State. Unless something is done very quickly, Anambra State will soon break the record of Borno State as the only state in Nigeria that did not conduct local government elections in 10 years. The Boko Haram insurgency deprived Borno State of the opportunity of holding council election from 2007 – 2020 (a period of 13 years).

While it is true that Soludo met the menace of “unknown gunmen” in Anambra State on his assumption of office and has not shied away from confronting them, it is not enough excuse to continue prolonging the conduct of local government election in Anambra State. Neighbouring states like Enugu and Ebonyi, facing the same security challenge, have elected local government chairmen and councilors. Enugu held local government election in February 2022, one month before Soludo came into office while Ebonyi held its own five months after, precisely in August 2022.

The outgoing Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu conducted local government election twice in his eight-year tenure and wanted to hold another one 10 days before leaving office, but the Abia State High Court in Arochukwu stopped the exercise. If governors who are not professors conducted local government election, a governor who is a professor should do better.

Northern states like Katsina, Kebbi and Niger, facing banditry menace, held local government elections last year. In spite of the menace of killer herdsmen, Benue State held council elections last year. Adamawa held. Edo and Ondo fixed theirs for September and December this year. Oyo fixed its own for April 2024.

Kwara State Governor, Abdurahman Abdurasak recently inaugurated the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC). In Anambra, Soludo keeps on offering assurances anytime confronted on radio programmes, without taking concrete steps to match his words with action. In one of his radio outings widely reported by print and online media, he said that certain things ought to be worked out and modalities put in place before the conduct of local government election, as doing so will imply the autonomy of the local governments in the state. According to him, some structures also need to be put in place, both with respect to administration, execution of government policies and programmes as well as payment of local government staff (both retired and active), among other things that need to be planned, defined or worked out before conducting local government election.

 Ironically, Prof. did not tell us how long it is going to take to put these modalities in place. I really do not know how local government administration in Anambra State became rocket science. Anambra State is one of the states with the highest potential of operating a functional local government system if the councils are disentangled from the apron strings of the state government.

The constitutional functions of the councils include collection of rates, building and management of markets, construction and maintenance of rural roads, naming of streets, numbering of houses, registration of births, deaths and marriages, and administration and funding of basic education and primary healthcare. I can say without any fear of contradiction that Anambra is the state with the largest concentration of markets in the South-East. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from Onitsha market alone sustained the government of the Old Anambra State, comprising of today’s Anambra, Enugu and parts of Ebonyi State. Nnewi boasts of the biggest motor parts market, while markets are scattered in Awka, Ogbunike, Nkpor, Obosi, Nnobi and Ekwulobia. 

A person as educated as Soludo, needs no education on the benefits of grassroots democracy. In its true meaning, democracy is synonymous with grassroots democracy. The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos” meaning people and “kratos” meaning power. Where else are the people found if not at the grassroots? The local government is the tier of government closest to the people.

Majority of the people at the grassroots in Anambra, especially those in the rural communities may not have the opportunity of seeing Governor Soludo all through his eight-year tenure. That is if he gets a second term. On the other hand, they could easily see their elected councilors and even chairmen and hold them accountable.

Also, the elected officials at the local government are closer to the people and understand their problems more than those operating at the state and national levels. Hence, grassroots democracy ensures that government policies reflect the needs of the local communities. It can also promote public involvement in governance, improve service delivery, strengthen communities and improve development outcomes. If democratised, the local government system could serve as a veritable ground for grooming future political office holders at the state and national levels.

In fact, some people have argued that democracy failed in Nigeria because those at the grassroots have been denied political empowerment, hence causing political apathy.  It will be very difficult to contradict this argument if we adopt the 2021 Anambra governorship election won by Soludo as a case study. Of the 2,466,638 voters registered by INEC in Anambra, only 253,388 voted, out of which 8, 108 votes were rejected. This means that only 10 percent of the registered voters voted in the election in spite of the massive security presence in the state, geared towards dousing the fear of violence. Although the turnout of voters was higher in the general elections, it still left much to be desired. 

Finally, if we are serious about tackling political apathy and the dilemma of development in Anambra State, the people must be empowered politically at the grassroots through the conduct of local government election. All Anambra needs to conduct council polls is the political will. The burden is on nobody else, but Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra State to provide that political will. At his inauguration, he took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Constitution says that the local governments should be governed by elected officials. As much as possible, he must try to abide by his oath of office.

 Hence, we expect him to as quickly as possible reconstitute ANSIEC and empower the commission to conduct council polls in Anambra within the shortest possible time to enable the local governments operate optimally and perform their constitutional functions. Besides, the funds accruing monthly to the 21 local government areas in the state from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) should be managed by elected council officials and not appointees of the Governor.    

Nzomiwu writes from Awka, Anambra State