The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has called for the immediate amendment of the Electoral and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Acts to empower it to conduct local government elections in the country.
The newly elected TMG Chairman, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, made the call Thursday in Abuja, at a press conference on the state of the electoral process and the nation.
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“The processes and outcome of the LGA election have remained the will of the state and ruling party rather than reflecting the consent and aspirations of the people as electorate. The political interference from the state government and partisanship of the state independent electoral commission have led to a lack of trust in local elections.
“It has also led to the increasing case of voter apathy with inconsistency in the application of electoral guidelines and poor communication channels between state electoral commission and electoral stakeholders.
“TMG sees this as rape of rural governance that potends grave danger for participatory democracy, accountability and rural development,” Rafsanjani said.
He, therefore, urged the Nigeria governors’ forum, political parties and relevant stakeholders to collaborate in ensuring that credible local government elections were prioritised and conducted as at when due.
