By Charles Maduka
Participants at the 13th National Delegates Conference of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria, held in Jos, have opposed suggestions to abolish state electoral commissions.
The European Union, in a statement released Thursday, said delegates instead called for reforms to strengthen the operations of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), which are responsible for conducting local government elections.
The conference, supported by the EU’s Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme, brought together key stakeholders including Prof. Samuel Egwu; Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang; Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule; FOSIECON Chairman, Jossy Eze; and INEC’s Oliver Agundu.
They all insisted that rather than abolishing SIECs, efforts should be directed at reforming them to ensure their independence and grant them financial and administrative autonomy.
Egwu stressed that maintaining SIECs aligns with the principles of federalism, saying transferring local election duties to INEC or creating a new electoral bureau would undermine the federal structure.
Eze noted that despite constitutional support, SIECs are often pressured by political interests. He said ongoing bills in the National Assembly to scrap or alter SIECs do not address the core problems.
Mutfwang called for reforms in leadership recruitment, saying the focus should be on identifying genuine leaders and improving governance efficiency, especially at the grassroots.
Sule pledged to support any resolutions from the conference and offered Nasarawa State as a testing ground for potential pilot reforms.
INEC’s Agundu urged SIECs to treat elections as continuous processes rather than isolated events. He also encouraged stronger partnerships with civil society and more emphasis on voter education.
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