Governors must stop influencing electoral commisdions

– Olurode said he conducted a study on
local government election
– He wants state electoral commissions
away from governors
– Appeals for credible elections in local
government areas
Professor Lai Olurode, immediate past
national commissioner of Nigeria’s
Independent National Electoral
Commission,
is not happy with the
influence of influence wielded by
governors on state electoral commissions.
Professor Lai Olurode
He said easing the state electoral
commissions from the grip of governors
would result in credible elections.
The professor of sociology at the
University of Lagos who was part of those
that handled the 2015 general election,
was quoted by the Punch as saying that
the state electoral commissions should be
strengthened.
This , he said, would remove them from
total dependence on governors, who end
up forcing them to favour candidates of
ruling parties in the states.
Speaking on the sideline of the annual
lecture of the Fountain University,
Osogbo, Osun, Olurode said he conducted
a study on the conduct of local
government elections between 1999 and
2014.
The result was that elections were not
held in most states while in places where
the exercise held, the parties in power
always carried the day.
“My new position is that INEC should not
be saddled with the responsibility of
conducting local government election
which, under federalism, is within the
purview of state governments,” he said.
There had been complaints that governors
in Nigeria often dictate how electoral
commissions in states work. They also
dictate when elections are held for local
governments.
After many months, for example, the
Lagos state government is preparing for
council elections with Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode appointing Justice
Ayotunde Philips , the immediate past
Chief Judge of the state, as replacement
for Hon Justice Fatai Adeyinka, the retired
chairman of the Lagos state Independent
Electoral Commission (LASIEC).
Ambode, in a letter addressed to the State
House of Assembly, which was read on
the floor of the House on Tuesday, May 3,
said the decision to nominate Justice
Philips was pursuant to the powers
conferred on him by Section 2 (1) and (2)
of the LASIEC Act, 2008.