A civil society organization, Yiaga Africa, says some of the recent local government elections held across the country failed electoral integrity tests.
He also announced plans to release a full report on some of the council's surveys in late October.
This was stated by the group in a statement on Monday in Africa.
In the statement, YIAGA described some of the elections as a “travesty” and emphasized that they did not pass the integrity test.
“The majority of local elections held recently are a travesty of democratic elections and do not meet standards of electoral integrity,” the group stated.
Latest infographics on YIAGA Africa local government surveys Latest infographics on YIAGA Africa local government surveys
Most state governments have rushed to hold elections in their respective local governments following the Supreme Court's verdict on the autonomy of that level of government.
One of the other far-reaching decisions of the Supreme Court was the declaration of illegality of the appointment of interim committees.
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Following the Supreme Court verdicts, only eight states out of 36 have yet to hold local government elections. They are: Kogi, Kano, Osun, Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Ogun and Ondo states.
Stop interfering in SIEC activities: YIAGA tells governors
YIAGA also called on state executives to stop interfering in the activities of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), tasked with holding local government elections.
The organization noted that state commissions must protect their constitutionally guaranteed responsibilities and remain impartial.
“As more states prepare for their upcoming local elections, we call on the executive to refrain from interfering with the operations of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs),” YIAGA stated.
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“We also urge the SIECs to assert their partial constitutional independence to conduct credible elections. Strict compliance with established guidelines is essential to ensure the validity and integrity of local government elections,” the organization added.
We must extend the reforms to local governments.
Announcing plans to publish the report on all recent elections, YIAGA pointed to the need to reform the electoral space at the local level.
The organization explained that “to reap the benefits of the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments, it is crucial to extend electoral reform to local government elections to free SIECs from the stronghold of state governors while safeguarding their independence.” operational and financial.
“Our report will be based on the local government election index we recently developed,” the statement read.
Concerns have been raised about the integrity of the results of the local government elections organized by the SIECs, as most of the ruling parties in the states have won a majority of the seats in all these elections.
The inability of state electoral commissions to conduct credible elections has led to calls from some quarters for INEC to take over the exercise.