The Local Government election in Oyo State is scheduled to hold on the 27 April, 2024 barring any change in the date. This will be the second of its kind in the tenure of Governor Seyi Makinde since he came on board on the 29 May, 2019.
It is a commendable effort by His Excellency. It is laudable indeed when compared to the idea of hiring caretaker committees to run the affairs of Local Government Councils serially.
The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) headed by Isiaka Olagunju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has been up and doing with the preparation towards ensuring a successful conduct of the election .
He has reiterated times without number that the mandate of the commission as a state electoral umpire is to conduct local government council election within the ambit of the law. And he has vowed that the election will be free and fair.
But can one take this assurance from the electoral umpire to the bank? Your guess is as good as mine. This reminds me of Professor Maurice Iwu, the then chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) assuring Nigerians of his resolve to supervise the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the 2007 general elections.
In the build up to the elections of that year, Maurice Iwu’s face was a regular feature on the national television giving assurance to Nigerians that the 2007 general elections would be free and fair even if that would be his last assignment on the surface of the earth.
But at the end of the day, the promise by the Professor turned out to be a deceit. It all ended like an idle talk. That election, arguably remains the worst since 1999 till date. I remember that the court eventually upturned the results of the governorship elections in Ondo, Edo, Ekiti and Osun States on the basis that the elections in those states were massively rigged in favor of the PDP. The presidential election of that year almost suffered a similar fate. The contest was dragged to the Supreme Court and late Musa Yar’adua only escaped the hammer of the judiciary by a whisker.
Bad as those 2007 elections were, they cannot be compared to any election conducted for the local government councils by the State Independent Electoral Commission anywhere in Nigeria. Call it a mess is an understatement. Local government election has always been a charade and a mockery of democracy virtually in all the states in Nigeria.
I try to rack my brain to identify any exceptional state that can be identified as a role model, it is difficult to find one. It has always been the case of an engagement where the the opposition parties are lured by whatever interest to participate, give legitimacy and credibility to a sham called election. Eventually the government in power through its agent called the SIEC makes a fool of the opposition parties that take part in the worthless contest.
It is a recurring story that local government elections are usually characterized by voters’ apathy. The people are always disinterested in the exercise for obvious reasons. The general belief is that the State executive as embodied by Mr Governor has an overbearing influence on the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). With this, the impression of the electorate is that their votes will never count. And that is often the gospel truth.
In Oyo State for example, if one can link the body language of Gov Seyi Makinde in the way he has been treating the local governments with his popular outburst of not believing in the relevance of local government as a third tier of government, one will be right to opine that his urge in conducting election into the Councils is instigated either by primordial interest or a mere show off or both. He does so in order to score cheap political points and possibly to fulfill all righteousness.
If the zeal and the commitment is born out of genuine desire to engender grassroot developments, that would have been impressive. But with the executive castration of the incumbent local government chairmen and Councillors, the intention is clearly not meant for developments, rather it is to install surrogates that will only dance to his tune and be silenced with crumbs on their tables. They dare not talk or grumble. “Iso inu eku, a mu mora ni.
One Local Government Chairman was bold enough to call the public attention to a similar scenario in Ogun State sometimes ago. He called the bluff of the governor, Dapo Abiodun, but he is no longer in the office to tell the story.
It is a public knowledge that in Oyo State too, Mr governor has been dealing with the Local Government Councils as an appendage of the state. Even the pseudo autonomy that Local Government Chairpersons enjoy in other states, Oyo State inclusive under late Abiola Ajimobi is no longer present.
Gov Seyi Makinde is directly or indirectly running the affairs of the two tiers of governments: the State and the Local. He presides over the finances of both tiers as the JAAC meeting where the chairmen do enjoy some pseudo autonomy and feel a fair or fake sense of being in charge while sharing the monthly allocations has been obliterated in Oyo State.
The local council bosses are inherently weak and disadvantaged to challenge the status quo. This is so because the process that usually brings them into power is manipulated, and consequently they, as the products of the faulty process can at their best be subservient to their godfathers. He who pays the piper dictates the tune. The so called elected Chairmen and Councillors only carry titles on their head with their entitlements at the mercy of the governor.
Therefore, let the attention of the opposition parties taking part in the forthcoming election be drawn to the fact that it is not going to be a tea party. They must all embrace the Boys’ Scouts Motto, “Be Prepared” before, during and after the election. The exercise must be given all the seriousness it deserves. PDP must be given a run for their money, not necessarily in term of finance but in term of campaign and mobilization. It must be bumper to bumper. Even if their game plan is to manipulate and emasculate the opposition at the poll, it must not be an easy ride for them.
The talk in the mouths of political watchers at the moment is loud and clear. “Will Mr Governor allow the 2024 local government election in Oyo State to hold without any interference from him? Will the election be free and fair? Are there hope for the opposition parties participating in this contest? Will the governor allow the incoming elected local government officials perform their core functions without hindrance unlike the present set? These are the questions for the gods.
May I therefore crave your indulgence to be allowed to be a doubting Thomas in this instance? Not until a proper autonomy is granted to the Local Government Councils and the INEC is empowered to conduct their elections, it will be a continuity of business as usual.
For the opposition parties taking part in this election, I feel bold to say that, THE CLOUDS ARE VERY DARK!
B. Aderemi Ogundele
(Jagunmolu)
