Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved the appointment of six eminent persons to serve in the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC ahead of the next councils’ polls.
The appointees are: Justice Bola Okikiolu Ighile, Retd as Chairman, Mr. Samson Ajibade, Mr Oluwo Durojaiye, Dr. Metilelu Olusola, Mr. Aileru Abeeb Dapo and Mr. Oladele Adekanye as members.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, announced this on Wednesday.
According to Omotoso, “Details of the swearing-in ceremony will be announced in due course.”
Recall that LASIEC, had on June 7, 2024, commenced what it described as ‘a crucial journey of review and reform of electoral laws to meet international election standards. Therapist-1
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on the review of LASIEC law and other electoral laws in the state, Director of Elections Operations, Ademola Gbadegesin, said that “good governance begins with the participation of the citizenry in local government elections. Local government elections are regarded as the most important and valued elections because of their grassroots nature.
“It impacts directly on the existential survival of the community people, aside from being an essential feature of modern participatory democracy.”
Gbadegeshin added that elections are the cornerstone of any democracy, reflecting the will of the people and ensuring that governance is carried out with legitimacy and accountability. To achieve this objective, there must be sustainable legal work.
“We will continue to engage all stakeholders and other critical interests in elections and the electoral process so as to continue to deliver our mandate with openness and credibility.”
This is coming in the aftermath of last Thursday’s Supreme Court judgement which granted financial autonomy to councils and prohibited federal allocation to council being administered by caretaker committees.
Few days after judgement, no fewer than 13 states had fixed dates for Local Government elections
The states that have commenced council poll preparations include: Kaduna, Kogi, Bauchi, Katsina, Osun, Enugu, Benue, Rivers, Jigawa, Imo, Kebbi, Abia, and Anambra states.
The Supreme Court had declared it unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for the local government councils.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the seven-man panel held that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
The court delivered the landmark judgment in suit: SC/CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) against the 36 state governors.
The AGF had sued the state governors through their respective state attorneys-general.
The apex court declared that the government is divided into three tiers: federal, state, and local governments.
The court further declared that a state government had no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council was only recognisable with a democratically elected government.
“A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,’’ the apex court declared, putting an end to the practice of appointing caretaker committees to run the councils by the state governors.
The court further asserted that the use of a caretaker committee by the state governments to administer the local government violated the 1999 Constitution.
The Supreme Court further affirmed that the local government areas should be governed by a democratically elected government but “The state by the abuse of their power has worked against this law.”
The court declared that the 36 state governors had no power to dissolve democratically elected local government councils to replace them with caretaker committees.
“Such an act is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void,’’ Agim maintained.
The apex court barred the state governors from receiving, retaining or spending the local government allocation.
It added that it is the local government administrations that should receive and manage funds meant for the local councils.
