LG AUTONOMY: Bill to Create Electoral Commission for Local Governments Passes Second Reading
By Omowumi Omotosho
A bill seeking to establish a federal agency for the conduct of local government elections has scaled first reading at the Senate.
The Bill titled, “Local Government Independent Electoral Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2024” was sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa.
Recall that last week, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the suit brought by the federal government to strengthen the independence of local governments in the country. A member of the panel, Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the court’s lead judgement last week, made it clear that the local governments across the country should receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The new arrangement ordered by the Supreme Court empowers the Accountant-General of the Federation to bypass the state governments in the monthly disbursement of federal allocations to the local governments.
Until the court ruling, the electoral process of local government councils was being controlled by state governors. The establishment of the Local Government Independent Electoral Commission may completely remove local governments from the shackles of state governors, further enhancing their autonomy.
