…as Anambra amends electoral, LG laws ahead of Sept LG poll
As part of political move to bolster Local Government autonomy, the Osun State House of Assembly has passed two crucial bills into law.
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (Amendment 1) Bill, 2024, and the Osun State Local Government Areas (Creation & Administration) (Amendment 7) Bill, 2024, is aimed at aligning the State Legislation with the recent Supreme Court judgment upholding Local Government independence.
This was contained in a statement by Olamide Tiamiyu, the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Osun State of House of Assembly and made available to newsmen in Osogbo on Tuesday.
The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission Bill seeks to regulate the State’s electoral body to conduct elections in the recognised 30 Local Government Areas.
It also empowers the elected local government chairmen to appoint chief administrators into the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and the six area councils within their respective jurisdictions.
Also, the Local Government Creation and Administration Bill provides the elected local government chairmen with the authority to make appointments that will enable them to effectively discharge their duties.
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The chief administrators appointed to the LCDAs and Area Councils will work closely with the chairmen and report back to them.
The passage of these bills is seen as a significant step towards strengthening the autonomy and decision-making capabilities of local governments in Osun State. The bills will now be sent to the state’s executive governor for assent.
Similarly, the Anambra House of Assembly has amended the State Electoral Commission and Local Government Laws.
The amendments, which both passed through the first, second and third readings, came just as the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission Law announced that it would conduct Council Poll on Sept. 28.
Both amendment bills were sponsored by Ikenna Ofodeme (APGA), the Majority Leader and Chukwunonso Igwe (PDP), representing Ekwusigo and Ogbaru 1 State Constituencies,.respectively.
It said nomination of candidates shall be conveyed to the Commission and only be entertained if it was signed by the Anambra Chairman and Secretary of the political party elected at the Congress monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or where there are none.
The bill christened Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 2) also provided that National Chairman and Secretary of the political party shall be those elected at the Convention of the Party monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or where there are none;
It also added the phrase “collation and declaration of results” after the phrase “counting of votes” to now read “Counting of votes, collation and declaration of results” in the Marginal Note and Table of Content of the principal law.
“Section 24(12), where there is a dispute as to or division in the leadership of the party, the Commission shall entertain and act on only such documents mentioned in sub section 11 of this section.
“It shall be countersigned by a higher number of members of the National Assembly from Anambra and members of the Anambra House of Assembly, elected on the platform of the party and who are still members of the party,” it said.
The Assembly also passed Local Government (Amendment No. 9) Bill, 2024 amending and expunging all sections and clauses relating to conduct of election at the local government levels
“Section 3 of the Principal Law is hereby amended by expunging the following paragraphs in its entirety: “Electoral Commission” means the State Independent Electoral Commission.
“Register of voters” in relation to a ward or constituency means the list of voters registered and eligible to vote in a local government, ward or constituency;
“Tribunal” means Local government council election tribunals; “Ward or Constituency” in relation to local government area means a ward or constituency established for the local government area by the State Independent,” it said.
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