Come September this year, Imo State will hold local government elections in the 27 Local Government Areas of the state. The election is expected to bring to end, years of non conduct of Local Government elections that culminated in unconstitutional use of Sole Administrators, Transition Committees, and Interim management committees in the Local Government system.
Local Government elections are expected to deepen democracy at the grassroots, in line with the provisions of Section 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, As Amended.
Section 7 of the Nigerian Constitution maintains that a system of democratically elected Chairmen and Councillors is guaranteed under the Constitution. Local Governments are designed to bring government to the doorsteps of Nigerians, especially, the rural dwellers.
Therefore, the scheduled Imo LG polls slated for September 21 must reflect these ideals. A situation were one particular Party -the ruling political party – sweeps all the elective positions in the LGAs of a state, is not only shameful and disheartening, but a mockery of the same democracy it ought to entrench.
In this vein, it is necessary to remind political parties participating in the scheduled Imo Local Government polls, that democracy begins with the free and transparent conduct of primaries for the purpose of choosing candidates for the elections. This is germane in that it will make the contest quite competitive and all inclusive.
It is only natural that all aspirants who purchased nomination forms for the primaries, should be allowed by all the political parties to test their popularity via free and fair primaries.
The election proper should be transparent, free and fair for all the candidates.
We therefore urge the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission, ISIEC, to prove critics wrong by providing a level playing ground for all the participating political parties, especially as there have been calls for the amendment of the Constitution to enable INEC take over the conduct of Local ocal Government elections in the country.
We remain convinced that a strong and virile Local Government system remains a sure way to a productive, stable and prosperous nation.
It is equally a panacea to the growing phenomenon of rural- urban drift.