A coalition of Civil Society Organisations alongside notable individuals from Kwara State say they are set to sustain the struggle for the conduct of elections into the administration of the 16 Local Government Councils in the state.

The groups and the stakeholders informed Arewa PUNCH during a private investigation that elections for political offices last held at all of the state's LGAs four years ago.

Findings reveal further that the local government administration in the 16 Councils in Kwara State is at present being run by the Transition Implementation Committee appointed by the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over two years ago.

Election into the local Council in the state was last conducted in October 2017 by the administration of the immediate past governor, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, and it was dissolved by the present administration in July 2019.

Speaking exclusively with Arewa PUNCH on behalf of the Kwara State Stakeholders Consultative Forum comprising of prominent professionals including Lawyers³, Engineers, Administrators as well as other professional bodies in the state, Hon Ayansola Mohammed appealed to the governor ?to hasten democratic governance at the grassroots.

He pointed out that development at the grassroots would be slow without the

conduct of council elections, adding that many jobs that would have been put in place at the various councils are put on hold because of non conduct of the election.

Mohammed insisted, “With the election of 32 Chairmen and Vice Chairmen in the 16 Local Government Councils, 193 Councillors in the state's 193 wards, four Legislative Aides by each chairman and supervisors, many people would have been involved in governance at the grassroots and the life of the people would be the better for it.”

Lukman Raji, Director of Legal Services of Elites Network for Sustainable Development, another Civil Society Organisation which has dragged the Kwara Government to Court over the appointment of Transition Implentation Committee informed our correspondent in an interview that the state High Court had ordered the state governor to conduct local government elections in a judgment which the government had appealed.

ENetSuD which accused the governor of using delay tactics stressed that, “Instead of following court judgments and do the right thing, the governor has been buying time to pursue frivolous appeal at the Supreme Court without any diligent prosecution of his case.”

He added that the governor had introduced another delay tactics on a sponsored bill taken to the State Assembly to amend the local government Electoral law to extend the local government election in the state to 2025.

Raji revealed, “In the bill sent to the Kwara State House of Assembly, the Governor proposed to change the notice period for Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission to conduct Local Government election from 90 days (as contained in the current law) to 360 days (one year.)”

He continued, “While amendment of a law is not a problem itself, we insist that the proposed amendment of the Kwara State Electoral Law should be put on hold until after the conduct of the Local Government election by KWSIEC. We maintain that the proposed amendment is targeted at the expected local government election that KWSIEC has refused to conduct to satisfy the unlawful act of the governor. Any attempt to amend the Law to increase the notice period of election to one year is nothing but an attempt to ensure that the Local Government doesn't take place before year 2025, and this is a fraudulent exploration of the legal instrument to retain illegal TIC in office till year 2025.”

A notable politician and councillorship aspirant in Baboko ward of Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state, Nurudeen Abdullahi, posited that the non conduct of the LGA elections has deprived politicians who aspire for elective offices the chance of realising their aspirations.

He noted that most of them including those belonging to the ruling party do not have the privilege of visiting the TIC chairman to execute projects in the different areas of the councils, adding that, “since they are not elected, they do not have access to the people that matters to escalate issues on rural development.

Therefore, Nurudeen appealed to the governor to allow the newly constituted KSIEC to conduct council elections so that residents at the wards can have a say in the running of their affairs at the grassroots.

A public affairs analyst in the state, Comrade Abdulateef Ishowo, too stressed the need for the conduct of the elections, maintaining that any governor that fails to conduct LGA elections is not democratic.

“Just as we all know that local government is the organ of government that is closest to the people at the grassroots, any governor that fails to conduct local government election is undemocratic,” Ishowo remarked.

The analyst who put the blame of the non conduct of council elections by some governors at the door post of the Federal Government reminded that the Supreme Court resolved in various judgments in 2014, 2018 and 2021 that the federal allocation to states that fail to allow local government autonomy should be stopped, adding that, “if the Federal Government wants the states to recognise the local government autonomy, it should have made the states to treat local governments as a separate entity from the states.

“As of today, 17 out of the 36 states and 323 out of 774 local governments are not under elected local government councils,” Ishowo revealed.

Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, denied the allegations and told Arewa PUNCH that the government is ready to conduct local government election anytime, adding that to underscore the administration's preparedness for the council elections, the governor constituted the state Independent Electoral Commission to conduct the election.

Ajakaye while refuting the claims that the government was delaying the conduct of the local government said that there were legal issues which the government had to clear before the smooth conduct of the local government election can be achieved, maintaining that some past officials of the commission took the government to the court.

Arewa PUNCH recalls that members of the KWSIEC inaugurated in May 2023 included: Okala Baba (Chairman), Edret Sabi Abel, Engr. Hassan Taiye Salam, Gbadeyan Gbadura Yomi, Ndama Al-hassan, Saka Balikis Kehinde, and Engr. Abdullah Janet Amudat (members).

At the event, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had said the inauguration of the KWSIEC officially kicks off the process to conduct the local government elections in the state.

He had equally pointed out that, “Today's inauguration of the chairman and members of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission officially kicks off the process for the conduct of the local government elections in the state.”Pls note infography for Kwara story.