A former member of the House of Representatives, West Idahosa, has recommended that the State Electoral Commission should be abolished if local governments must be fully independent.
Idahosa, who is also a lawyer, believes the administration of the commission depends largely on the state governor.
He added also called for the separation of the local government account from that of the state government.
“Everything squarely rests on the tables of the governors and to that extent, everyone has to genuflect”, he said.
“So I think they have to remove that joint account and then, of course, also abolish the state electoral commission because there will never be an autonomous council.
“There will never be a functional council as long as the state governors and their agencies continue to conduct local government elections in Nigeria.”
Idahosa, who appeared on Channels Television’s politics programme on Wednesday, insisted that the local government must have an independent account.
As the National Assembly reviews the Constitution, he asked the lawmakers to review the provisions which allow for a joint account between the local and state governments.
“As it is now, I think the first thing to be done, because the review of the Constitution is going on now, is to take the liberty to restructure the clause which allows for a joint account.
“Essentially, when you pay monies belonging to the local government and the state into the same account, I don’t know what you expect in the system where the governors determine even who become chairmen and members of the council.
“They conduct those elections using their state electoral commissions,” the former House of Representatives member said.
