ABSTRACT
Nigeria is characterized by three tiers of government namely; federal, state and local government. Every tier of government is independent of the other and none is to interfere in the government and administration of the other. The local government which is our subject matter, is saddled with the responsibility of bringing government closer to the people at the grassroot level. However, with the current reality of local government administration in Nigeria, various local government tend to rely on the state to determine its leadership, revenue, mode of administration inter alia. With this indirect rule practiced by various state government, local governments in Nigeria tend to have different law administering them. This paper seeks to scrutinize thoroughly the administration of the third tier of government.
INRODUCTION
Firstly, Nigeria has 774 local government areas, this local government areas are administered by a local government council which form the legislative and an executive body, the chairman of the council is the chief executive, other elected members are known and referred to as councilors, the councilors are the legislative body of the local government areas.
The history of the third tier of government has been characterized by instability of tenure and lack of uniformity in administration stemming from the administration of indirect rule (a system of governance where the traditional rulers serve as an intermediary between the government and the people).
In the 1950s, when the regional system was introduced, each region determines its own method of local government administration. Dudley (1982) reports that: “for much of the region, the colonial framework was retained with barely any change, what changed there was simply the conversion of what used to be known as ‘sole native authorities’– the Emir acting as sole administrator– into what was termed ‘Emir-in-Council’ that is a system in which the Emir was to be advised by his ‘council’ though he was under no obligation to accept what advice was proffered. (p. 110)
Local government has a role to promote local democracy, which is why they are constitutionally given the right of election pursuant to Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:
7 (1) “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.”
But in recent times, local government has become a political tool in the hands of state government where most state government resort to caretaker committees which is contrary to Section 1(2)(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which provides that;
(2) the federal republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
(3) If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this constitution, this constitution shall prevail and that other law shall to the extent of its inconsistency be void.
This simply shows that it was never the intention of the drafters of the constitution for local government to be robbed of their democracy by the so called caretaker committees appointed by the state government.
This caretaker committee system date as far back as the second republic, thereafter the ideology of managing local government via appointed caretaker committee became the pattern of various state government for grassroot governance. This is partly seen as a gap left uncovered by the constitution, the constitution ought to have covered the field in regards to the term of an elected local government council’ this single act would have blocked the means to this undemocratic governance by various state government.
To this effect, the Supreme Court in the case of I.S.I.E.C v. Ehirim (2013) 3 NWLR (pt. 1340) 169 SC, declared unconstitutional, the act of dissolving democratically elected local government councils by the State.
Also the Supreme Court in its recent decision in AG Federation v. AG Abia State & 35ors, regarding local government autonomy, among other things, held the respective state governors and state house of assembly accountable and under obligation to ensure democratic governance at the local government.
On 30th June, Punch newspaper reported that on June 28, 2024, the government of Jigawa state dissolved the elected council chairman of the 27 local governments in the state, the state is said to have earlier amended the local government laws, extending the time for fresh local government council elections by one year and ordering the appointment of caretakers before election.
In the same publication, the governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, appointed caretaker chairmen to take charge of local government councils in the state and similar event took place in Anambra State.
After the judicial pronouncement on July 11, 2024, several states in the country have conducted local government elections, The likes of Ebony, Sokoto, Imo, Enugu, Kaduna, Rivers etc. Prior to September 21, 2024 Kwara state has for seven years administered its grass root without a democratic change in government.
The chairman of the Kwara state Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC), Baba Okanla announced the outcome of the election confirming that the ruling party APC won all 16 local government chairmanship positions coupled with the 193 councillorship seats.
In Rivers state, following the judgement of the Supreme Court on the 11th day of July, 2024 which is to the effect that, all states without democratically elected local government council in place should conduct elections into their respective local government council within 3 months from the date of the judgement.
Amidst the political qualms in the state and the conflicting decisions of the Federal High Court and the State High Court on the conduct of election and release of registered voters by INEC, the state has equally complied by conducting its local government election. On the 5th of October, 2024, the Chief Election Officer of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Justice Adolphus Enebeli, announced in Port Harcourt that the Action People’s Party won 22 of 23 chairmanship positions in the state local government polls.
These recent developments brought about by the judicial pronouncement on local government administration have paved way into ensuring that the spirit of federalism in the grassroot level.
Irrespective of the various State Local Government Administration Laws, Section 108 the Electoral Act 2022, provides that an area council shall stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four (4) years, commencing from when the chairman took the oath of office or when the legislative arm of the council was inaugurated.
By the principle of covering the field, (where a particular field has already been covered by an Act of the national assembly, the provision by the national assembly takes precedent over the laws made by the state), in order words, the Electoral Act takes precedent over the various local government legislation laws.
References
• Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended
• Electoral Act 2022
• Nigerian Weekly law Reports
• Olaniyi, J.O., 2017, ‘state Independent Electoral Commissions and local government elections in Nigeria’, Africa’s public service Delivery and performance Review 5(1), a 133. Https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v5i1.133
• Nwanna, C.R., 2014, local government elections in Nigeria, international journal of Humanities social sciences and education, vol 1, Issue 11, November 20014, PP 180-192.
• Dudley, B., 1982, An introduction to Nigerian government and politics, Macmillan press, London
• Punch Newspaper, 30th June, 2024
• Lawyard.org, https://www.lawyard.org/news/court-orders-rivers-stateelectoral-commission-to-hold-local-government-elections-on-october-5/
About the Author
Abdulkareem Rahamatullah ochuu 09039065345
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