Mahmoud Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the electoral body has the capacity to conduct the local government elections in the country.
Yakubu said this as a reaction to the calls for the unbundling of INEC or creation of a new Federal Agency for the purpose of conducting Council polls.
In addition to the calls for the unbundling of the Commission, the Senate last week introduced a Bill seeking to establish a Local Government Independent Electoral Commission.
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The INEC Chairman, who appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on the INEC and Electoral Committees on Thursday, told lawmakers that the INEC under his leadership, has the capacity, competence, human resources and adequate experience to conduct local government elections across the 774 Councils across Nigeria.
He justified his position with the successes already recorded by the Commission in the six Federal Capital Territory Area Councils, including frequent off-season and bye elections.
The INEC boss also said the fact that the Commission had been conducting elections at the Federal and State levels over the years successfully was an indication that it has all it takes to conduct Council polls.
“So if this responsibility for the conduct of local government elections is transferred to INEC, can INEC cope? The answer is yes, INEC can cope. A national electoral commission may be expected to implement only the presidential and National Assembly, but we also do governorship elections, we do state assembly elections, and we do the area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory”, he said.
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The Chairman also noted that FCT Councils are made up of urban and rural communities, an indication that it has adequate experience to do so in any part of the country.
The Chairman sought further engagement with the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to enable INEC handle additional responsibilities.
“For instance, will the Federal Government continue to fund the elections for the states and the local government will fund this? The second proposition we have had is that there should be a new federal electoral commission for local government elections.
“Sadly, there is another argument that does not want the state electoral commissions to conduct local government elections in the spirit of federalism, but they should find a way of ensuring that they improve on the conduct. Right now, the law has not been amended. The same constitution that creates INEC also creates the state independent electoral commissions.
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“So it is up to the National Assembly to amend the law to transfer that responsibility to INEC. If that is done, the question is can INEC cope? Yes we can”, Yakubu said.
Yakubu assured the joint panel that the Commission had made adequate arrangements to conduct the two off-cycle elections in Edo and Ondo States.
He also said the Commission had prepared budgets for the outstanding by-elections of about seven Federal and State legislative constituencies.
Yakubu also explained to the Federal lawmakers that the agency’s 2024 budget was currently being adequately funded by the Ministry of Finance. He stated that the Ministry had so far released the sum of N23.3 billion to the Commission, which is one-twelfth of the 40 billion appropriated for the Commission in the 2024 budget.
