ONE problem with most Nigerians is that they hardly pause to think through issues before forming political opinions. The herd mentality rules. Once a nice soundbite is orchestrated, the herds simply follow.

Years ago, when Nigeria was under military rule, the fad of “true federalism” was on the lips of every pro-democracy pundit. True democracy meant devolution of powers to the states or regions to enable these sub-national or federating units take charge of their affairs. This campaign was part of the push for an end to military rule with its centralised command system.

Before the Civil War, the Provinces or Divisions were under the control of the defunct Regions. But when the military took over, they abolished the Regions, introduced the States as “federating” units and also created the Local Government Areas which were more or less controlled from the Centre. This “military command” system was found unpalatable by pro-democracy and true federalism activists who agitated for an end to military rule and devolution of powers.

Nigeria being a politically, economically, ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse country, people felt that the centralised system imposed certain cultural influences of the politically dominant group which some sections found unpalatable. Devolution would enable each federating unit to control its affairs according to its needs and aspirations. This was why the National Constitutional Conference of 1994-1996 factored the State Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs, into Section 197 of the 1999 Constitution.

Along with this move towards greater devolution of powers to the states was the creation of the State Joint Local Government Account System, SJLGAS, in Section 162 of the Constitution. This was supposed to enable the States and their LGAs pull resources to ensure the rapid development of the grassroots.

The LGAs have no powers under the Exclusive, Concurrent and Residual Lists which are shared only between the Federal and State Governments. Rather, Part I Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution empowers the State Houses of Assembly to make laws with respect to any part of its jurisdiction not covered in the above Legislative Lists. Also, Section 2(1) of the Constitution simply says: “Nigeria shall be a Federation consisting of States and the Federal Capital Territory”. The LGA is never mentioned.

The State House of Assembly is even empowered to create new LGAs but subject to the concurrence of the National Assembly. This enabled Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos to create the 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, of Lagos which are still awaiting National Assembly recognition to be listed among the Local Government Areas of the Federation.

The evidence that the Constitution overwhelmingly donates to the States the power to control their Local Government Areas, LGAs, is undeniable. Many Nigerians do not seem to be aware of this. Many have been disillusioned by the serial abuse of powers by State Governors which has crippled the effectiveness of grassroots governance. Rather than use the joint account to develop the grassroots, the Governors divert the LGAs’ federal funds for political and personal aggrandisement. Also, the SIECs have failed to produce democratic elections, as the parties of the incumbent Governors almost always sweep the results.

It was these failures that prompted Nigerians to resume the calls for “local government autonomy” which is only possible if the Constitution is comprehensively reformed to make the LGAs a separate federating unit. If we now have 36 “monster” Governors, what guarantee do we have that full Local Government autonomy would not breed 774 baby monster Local Government Charmen? LGA Chairmen will be running to Abuja just as the Governors now do. And, a power-drunk president can use the LGA administrators to destabilise States and impose his will. This is a formula for chaos!

Unfortunately, the current crop of Supreme Court Justices did not bother to look at these constitutional imperatives when they in July this year, ruled on the LG Autonomy suit filed by the Federal Government. They observed correctly that Governors have no power to dissolve elected LG councils. But their ruling on direct allocation of Federal funds to the LGA’s side-tracked the joint account constitutional provision.

Also, apparently as a means of curing the malaise of undemocratic outcomes of elections conducted by the SIECs, moves are being made in the National Assembly to donate the function of conducting local government elections to the national electoral umpire, INEC, whose integrity quotient has virtually collapsed under Professor Mahmood Yakubu. Whatever outside hope Nigerians nursed about the INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections evaporated after the recent Edo governorship election when INEC announced a result that differed from what we saw on its IREV portal.

The only way to restore the independence of our INEC and SIECs is to cut them off from executive control in terms of appointment and funding. Nobody who is involved in contesting for elections should play any role in the appointment of electoral officials and the funding of their activities.

Experience from other climes shows that most elections are conducted at the subnational levels. The USA has no national electoral umpire. Elections are conducted by state bodies, which are akin to our own SIECs. The Federal Electoral Commission, FEC, does not conduct elections. It only regulates and monitors election financing. We should strengthen and ensure the independence of our INEC and SIECs.

Those members of the National Assembly huffing to change the laws and give the LGAs “autonomy” (including scrapping of the SIECs) are wasting time. Only a wholesale abrogation of state control of LGAs in the Constitution can make the grassroots “autonomy” possible. It will be a wasteful, quixotic venture. The Governors and their Houses of Assembly are waiting to quench this burning desire when the Bills for constitution amendments arrive on their desks.

Give INEC and the SIECs their independence. That’s all we need.