*Calls On National Assembly To Scrap State Electoral Commission
The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has condemned what it termed the poor handling of the local government elections in Kogi State.
The party in a statement on Saturday bemoaned “the impunity and recklessness of the Government of Kogi State,” insisting that the elections was coming at a precarious moment when tension from widespread inflations, hunger and social insecurity was high in the country.
It traced the situation in the country to bad governance caused by bad government policies and political maneuvering.
Olu Agunloye, National Secretary of the party, had in the statement insisted that the action of the state government was “recklessness and unlawful,” especially at a time when over 180 towns and communities in the north central state were submerged in flood “and the remainder of the State, with exception of Kogi Government House, is submerged in hunger.”
The statement further added that SDP was “particularly disgusted by the odious perpetuation of predatory stance and irresponsive governance style by the present Kogi administration as being forced down on the people of Kogi State through the actions of the Kogi State Electoral Commission.
“The Kogi State Government, through its Electoral Commission is inflicting heavy damages on the fragile state of Nigeria as well as the Federal Constitution in a reckless way. It is sad and painful.
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This is more so when the embattled Nigerian leadership under the All Progressives Congress (APC) is struggling with economic policies and programmes for survival, attempting to calm down restive youths and combating debilitating insecurity crisis caused by bandits on our farmlands, highways and in government offices.”
The statement regrets that the actions of the state government “have once again signalled to Nigeria that they are no more than insensitive and unresponsive despots bent on continuing to perpetuate impunity, recklessness, and predatory governance against the people of the state as evident from the actions of their electoral commission.”
It accused the state electoral commission of planning and hatching a local government election that is not in accordance with the provisions of the 2022 electoral act.
Other infractions it identified include disregarding ongoing court case at the Federal High Court over the poll, and tampering with the list of SDP candidates sent to the commission.
The. Statement continued that the state government hijacked the constitutional functions of the party’s NEC to decide her officers, as it further revealed that it sponsored “state actors and non-state actors to prepare and process an unlawful sham of LG election down the throats of the people of Kogi State.”
Following this, the statement called for the scrapping of the state electoral umpire, as it called on the National Assembly to replace it with an impartial and independent body to conduct local council poll.
It called for urgent steps to correct the situation in the state, warning that Kogi was in a serious socio-economic crisis amid the devastating floods.
