When the Supreme Court ruled in affirmation of having elected officials in our 774 local governments and gave them financial autonomy which is yet to be implemented, many Nigerians, including me, hailed the landmark judgement. Like Biblical participants, we shouted that a Daniel has really come to judgement. Although some commentators and even the governors did not agree with the apex court ruling, their voices were drowned by the voices of the vocal majority. They had their say and we had our way, as they say in politics.

The apex court ruling enjoys the backing of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended). For instance, Section 7 (1) of the constitution under reference states clearly that “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”

To ensure that the third tier of government is not swallowed by the governors who argue that we have only two tiers of government, the federal and the federating units, the states, the federal and state governments reached a truce that every stated that failed to conduct local government election within a timeframe of three months will be denied allocation due to its local governments. In a bid to beat the deadline, every state without elected officials at the third tier of government immediately begin to prepare to conduct one even if it is utterly imperfect and undemocratic.

Since the conduct of these so-called elections by the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) in some states in the country we have witnessed a novelty in our electoral system under the current democratic march where only the ruling party wins all the seats in all the local government areas of each state. In Kwara, Sokoto and Imo states, the ruling All Progressives Congress won all the seats. In Enugu State, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all the seats.

In Anambra State, the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which the locals prefer to call APUGA as usual won all the seats. In Akwa Ibom State, the ruling PDP won almost all the seats but left one for the Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s party, theAPC to win. Maybe the governor did this to accord Akpabio the dignity he truly deserved as the son of the soil and number three man in the nation’s power hierarchy. I commend Governor Eno of Akwa Ibom for thinking this way and giving honour to whom it is due.

But oil-rich Rivers State, the story is entirely different. Even before the election, there was no love lost between the governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara and his benefactor and godfather, former governor of the state and now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. The puzzle in Rivers council poll, apart from the conflicting court orders from the state and Abuja over the same issue, is the governor allowing the new party in the state, the APP or the Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo party in reference to the party’s symbol, the Elephant, which renowned Nigerian minstrel, Mike Ejeagha immortalized in his song, Etu esi lee onye isi oche. This means how the chairman, the Elephant, was deceived or sold.

Governor Fubara belonged to the PDP but surprisingly he allowed the new APP to practically win all the seats in almost all the councils. The rest as they say in local parlance is now history. However, all other things that happened after the poll and the hurriedly swearing in of elected council officials will be for another day.

Having conducted what cannot be said to be real and credible elections, the victorious governors are now rushing to pass a bill through the controlled rubber-stamp state assemblies and quickly signed them into law to pave way for the obnoxious and abrogated State/Local Government Joint Account, a conduit pipe through which some state governors or even all of them siphon the resources that belong to the people at the grassroots. They do this in spite of having humongous security vote and other juicy perks of office.

Honestly, what the governors are doing right now with the selection of officials of the councils through an election which is a mere coronation of their boys clearly contradicts Section 7(1) of the Constitution. What the Supreme Court gave by the right hand, these governors want to take back with the left hand. Is this how our democracy will work? Is this how we shall develop the rural areas and give the rural people the so-called dividends of democracy? Is this how democracy works in other countries? Is this how we shall develop this so-called giant of Africa and make it achieve the dreams of our founding fathers?

I really do not know all the answers to these posers. But in all honesty, I don’t think that the way we are going right now is the right way. Many of our politicians are daily leading us astray. Those subverting having genuinely elected officials at the third tier of government don’t really mean well for the country. How can we have a third tier of government when almost all the recent council polls were won by governors’ candidates or surrogates? How can the local government areas develop when the same governors will be there dictating through proxy who get what and who does not get any from the councils. A council government without any opposition party is dead on arrival.

The federal lawmakers should run fast now to salvage the ruling of the apex court on local government financial autonomy before His Excellencies at the sub-national level render it a nullity. The local governments, the third tier of government must be saved from the strong grip of greedy governors. In fact, this democracy must be saved from those hijacking the grassroots party/power structure by conducting a spurious local government election. Those doing so are selfish and despotic.

The charade must stop forthwith. I don’t want to believe that this is a dress rehearsal for what will happen in 2027 or in other off-cycle gubernatorial polls before 2027. If SIECs cannot conduct free, fair and credible council polls, they should be scrapped without any delay. We must not allow impotent SIECs to kill and ruin the third tier of government. Other states planning to conduct council polls must ensure that they are free, fair and credible. Anything short of this is unacceptable. (Daily Sun)