Confab Seeks Extension of Legal, Institutional Reforms to State Electoral Umpires
- Demands for Administrative Independence, Financial Autonomy for SIECs
Our correspondent
The 13th National Conference of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria (FOSIECON) ended in Jos, Plateau State, with a recommendation to extend legal and institutional reforms that strengthened INEC’s operation to state independent electoral commissions to ensure optimal performance.
Participants at the conference also advocated for administrative independence and financial autonomy of the electoral bodies at the state to be given priority to serve as an impetus that would further strengthen them to deliver on their constitutional mandates.
In a communique issued at the end of the three-day event, participants drawn from the 36 states and the FCT emphasized the need for regular public engagements with election stakeholders across the country to build confidence in the capacity of state electoral bodies to organize and conduct credible and transparent Local Government Polls.
The communique signed by FOSIECON National Chairman Barr Jossy C. Eze, and Associate Prof. Joseph Aremo, National Secretary, stated that the event was aimed at assembling the major stakeholders in the administration of the LG Polls in the country to brainstorm on the core mandates of SIECs and review same for optimal performance.
It added that the conference was also organized to step up the mode of organizing credible elections for good governance at the grassroots level informing the desire for the 2025 Jos Conference.
The conference emphasized the need for regular public engagements with election stakeholders across the country to build confidence in the capacity of State Electoral bodies to organize and conduct credible and transparent Local Government Polls.
The participants also reiterated that political parties remain the only platform for filing nomination of candidates for election urging them to “evolve a mechanism for the emergence of leadership of proven integrity,” and called on the electorates to always review the activities and performance of their representatives for the purpose of accountability.
They further called on SIECs to intensify efforts in collaborating with Civil Society Organisations and development partners to provide capacity building that would enhance voters’ education and civic competence of the grassroots electorate.
They also reaffirmed the importance of delineation of electoral responsibilities between the two electoral bodies in the country in line with the tenets and principles of federalism and the role of SIECs in grassroots democracy.
“To achieve this aim, therefore, the NDC sought to x-ray challenges to the administration of grassroots elections amidst plurality of SIECs legal frameworks.
“Promote the discovery and application of knowledge, the acquisition of skills, and the development of operational policy guidelines for credible LG Polls in Nigeria.”
They also harped on the necessity of electoral reforms both at the State and National Legislative levels to give autonomy to SIECs in order to strengthen their operations to deliver on their constitutional mandates.
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