Friday Olokor, Abuja
A coalition of 91 political parties under the aegis of Inter-Party Advisory Council on Tuesday advocated for the Independent National Electoral Commission to start conducting local government elections as part of reforms in the electoral process.
They argued that the conduct of local government elections by the States Independent Electoral Commission had remained a threat to democracy because the process had been allegedly hijacked by governors.
According to IPAC, the failure to conduct a free, fair and credible election by SIEC is the reason why multi-party democracy has not flourished in Nigeria.
The chairman of IPAC and National Chairman of Progressive People’s Alliance, Chief Peter Ameh, made the call in Abuja during the 10th anniversary of KOWA Party.
The IPAC chairman said despite the complaints against INEC, the commission would do better in the conduct of LG elections in the country.
Ameh stated that Nigerian democracy must be restructured because governors had hijacked the process.
He said, “Participation is key in politics. You don’t have to be restricted to any party, but you are free to join any of the 91 political parties. INEC should take over the conduct of LG elections. Despite the complaints against INEC, it should take over LG polls.
“The LG election is a major problem to developing a multi-party democracy. The LG elections in the states have been criminalised. The failure of LG election is the reason why multi-party democracy has not flourished in Nigeria.
“We must redesign LG election. The governors have made our LG chairmen redundant. The governors have hijacked our democracy. We must reorganise and restructure our democracy.”
At the event, the acting National Chairman of KOWA Party, Mark Adebayo, said the party had embarked on creative and revolutionary methods of generating funds.
He said, “KOWA Party fielded a total of 284 candidates for the 2019 general elections which put it among the first 10 political parties or thereabouts that sponsored the highest number of candidates for the elections. Seventy per cent of our candidates were youth below 35 years of age, while about 45 per cent were females. All these indicators point to a promising party.”