The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s federal electoral body, is primarily responsible for the conduct of national and state elections. Local government elections, however, are overseen by State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) except for those in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). On Thursday, during an interactive session with members of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu assured them that the Commission can take on additional responsibility of conducting local government elections if the law says so.

INEC delegation was at the National Assembly to interact with the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on preparations for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States. It was the first after the Supreme Court judgment on the autonomy of Local Government Areas (LGA).

The way LGAs elected Chairmen and Councillors emerged was not one of the grounds for the suit, but as expected, Nigerians in their analysis started canvassing for more transparency in the process that throws – up the leadership of the local government areas. Some commentators, therefore, suggested that the task of conducting elections at the Councils should be taken away from the State Independent Electoral Commission and managed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It is already one of the areas slated for reform in the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution.

It was, therefore, not surprising when a question was posed to the INEC delegation on the subject matter. The INEC boss gave assurances to the lawmakers that the Commission was up to the task if the law is amended to give the responsibility to INEC. This took many Nigerians by surprise because, before Thursday’s engagement, INEC had always complained of being overburdened with too many responsibilities. Its duties include conducting national and state elections, registering and monitoring political parties, and prosecuting electoral offenders during general elections.

According to him, INEC can handle local government elections but that would only be possible when the law that established the Commission is amended to permit it to do so. He added a caveat that the Commission had been conducting area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory which has been devoid of the problems associated with the conduct of local government elections. More importantly, it is the only election that is conducted as and when due.

Prof. Yakubu tried to do some marketing and public relations for the Commission pointing out some advantages of INEC handling local government area elections including that there are regular elections when due, stability of tenure stressing that there has never been a caretaker committee in the FCT. He noted that there has never been a time when one political party has won all the seats at the elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as is common in elections organized by the State Independent Electoral Commission for local government areas in the states. According to him, if INEC handles the election, it would be better for democracy.

Evaluating the legal framework governing local government elections and how well these laws align with national standards is crucial. One of the key issues, vital to the conduct of any election is effective planning and timely distribution of electoral materials. In the 2023 general elections, electoral materials got to some Polling Units very late and in some, they failed to get there at all.

INEC in its Report of the 2023 General Election said: “The prevailing fuel scarcity across the country and inadequate numbers of vehicles and boats for the transportation of election personnel and materials within the required timeframe posed a great challenge to the logistics plan for the election. This is more so considering the size and diversity of Nigeria as well as the state of national infrastructure. Indeed, the election is the largest and most complex logistics undertaking in Nigeria involving the simultaneous movement of personnel and material to 176,846 Polling Units across 8,809 wards spread across 774 LGAs in 36 states and FCT”.

The adequacy of training for electoral staff and their deployment can significantly impact the credibility of the elections. Ensuring that staff are well-trained and impartial is crucial. At the 2023 general elections, it was reported that some ad hoc staff of the electoral body failed to assimilate what they were taught during training and this adversely affected their performance on election day as they could not operate the BVAS machine.

The use of technology, such as electronic voting systems or biometric verification, can enhance the credibility of elections by reducing fraud. INEC’s experience with such technologies in national elections could be beneficial, though adapting these systems for local elections may require additional resources and expertise.

While INEC has the capacity and experience from national elections that could support the conduct of credible local government elections, several factors such as legal framework alignment, operational readiness, technological infrastructure, security measures, public trust, and historical challenges need careful consideration and management. Effective collaboration with SIECs and other stakeholders is crucial to ensure that these elections meet credibility standards.

INEC may need to be unbundled and set free from some of the activities in its portfolio such as the prosecution of electoral offenders, registration of political parties, and monitoring of their activities, especially their finances. It is a known fact that INEC has not displayed enough capacity in the discharge of some of these duties.