The question as to whether State Independent Electoral Commissions are truly independent has been a matter of serious concern in Nigeria. This no doubt has resulted in arguments and counter arguments in response and reactions to the prevailing scenario playing itself out across the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with recourse to conduct and outcomes of Local Council elections. Worried by the complexity of the situation, this paper evaluates the legal operational framework of SIECs, its challenges and limitations in the performance of its statutory functions with respect to organizing and conducting free, fair and credible elections at the local council levels and the way forward. It employs qualitative research method, relies on content analysis of documented evidence as well as structural functionalism as a framework of analysis. Thus, it identifies omission on the part of the 1999 Constitution to uphold local government autonomy operationally and financially, which has rendered local councils easy prey in the hands of greedy, overbearing and self- serving state governors as the nemesis of Local council elections in Nigeria. Hence, associating “independence” with State electoral management bodies is an illusion not a reality going by the outcomes of local council polls, which reveal that it has become traditional that the ruling party in the state wins virtually all LG chairmanship and Councillorship positions. In the light of these findings, the paper recommends urgent review of the 1999 constitution to specify a uniform tenure for local councils, ensure financial autonomy for LG councils, scrap State Independent Electoral Commissions and empower the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct Local Council elections at the same time when State and national elections are conducted.
Adedeji, A. (2000). “Renewal of Search for Systems of Local Government that can Serve the Common Good”, in Adedeji, A and Ayo, B. eds. People-Centred Democracy in Nigeria? The Search for Alternative Systems of Governance at the Grass-roots, Ijebu Ode: African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies.
Akhaine, S. O. (2015). Briefing Nigeria's 2015 Elections: The 'Crippled Giant' Learns to Walk. African Affairs, 649-655.
Alao, M. (2015). Court Dissolves Rivers State Local Government Councils. The Nigerian Tribune, Vol. 4 (12).
Akowe, T. (2017). “State Independent Electoral Commission should be Scrapped” -NULGE. The Nation. Available at: https://thenationonlineng.net/state-independent-electoral-
commissions-scrapped-nurge/
Apkotor, A. S. (2016). Legal Framework for Elections in Nigeria: A Study of the 2015 General Elections, Abakaliki: Noraflex Printers, Abakiliki-Ebonyi, Nigeria.
Atumeyi, G. (2018). “State Electoral Commission and the Dilemma of Independence”.Leadership. Available at https://leadership.ng/2018/03/10/state-electoral-commissions-and-the-dilemma-of-independence/
Ayorinde, B. (2013). Independence of Electoral Umpires in Nigeria. The Nation Newspaper. http://thenationonlineng.net/independence-of-electoral-umpires-in-nigeria/
Bertallanfy, L. V. (1956), “General System Theory”, General System, Vol. 1.
Cherry, C. (1961), On Human Communication. New York: Wiley.
Cohen, L., and Manion, L. (1980), Research Methods in Education. United
Kingdom: Croom Helm.
Daramola, A. (2016). Local Government Elections in Kwara State. The Punch Newspaer, 28 November 2016, vol 12 (23).
Dudley, B. (1982). An introduction to Nigerian Government and Politics. London: Macmillan Publishers.
Federal Government of Nigeria. (2011). 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (amended), Abuja: Federal Government Printer.
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1979). 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Lagos: Federal Government Printer.
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1989). 1989 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Lagos: Federal Government Printer.
Hall, A., and Fagen, R. (1956), “Definition of a System” General System Vol. 1.
Ibrahim, O. F. (1993). ”Elections in the Transition”, in T. Adeniran (ed.), Seven years of IBB. volume 7. Lagos: The Daily Times of Nigeria Plc.
Iwu, M. (2009) “The Electoral Processes and the Imperatives of Electoral Reform in Nigeria” Lecture delivered at the Senior Executive Course 31 of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, Jos-Plateau State.
Macionis, J. (1944–2011). Sociology. Gerber, Linda Marie (7th ed.). Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Merton, R. K. (1949), Social Theory and Social Structure. London: Free Press.
Odoziobodo, S. I. (2015). “INEC and the Conduct of Elections in Nigeria: An Appraisal of the 2007 General Elections.” European Scientific Journal. Vol. 11, No.31.
Olaniyi, J. O. (2017).“State Independent Electoral Commissions and Local Government Elections in Nigeria”. Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review 5(1).
The Courier. (2016). Oyo State Government’s Unending Promises of LG Polls. The Courier Magazine, 12 (22).
The Daily Sun. (2016). Review of LG polls in Ogun State. The Daily Sun Newspapers, Vol. 5 (11).
The Punch Newspaper. (2016). The Outcome of Local Government Elections in Ondo State. The Punch Newspaper, Vol. IX (22).
The Punch Newspaper. (2018) Should INEC take over the conduct of LG Elections? Available at: https://punchng.com/should-inec-take-over-the-conduct-of-lg-elections/
Varma, S. P. (1975), Modern Political Theory, New Delhi: VIKAS Pub.House PVT Ltd.
In-Text Citation: (Odoziobodo & Okibe, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Odoziobodo, S. I., & Okibe, H. B. (2019). Between Illusion and Reality: Interrogating the Independence of State Independent Electoral Commissions in Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Public Policy and Governace, 6(1), 1–17.
Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
