Yiaga Africa has called on the National Assembly to remove the power of state governors to appoint members of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to restore confidence in the electoral process and ensure credible local government elections. This call was made during a Validation Meeting for the Comprehensive LGA Election Index Tool which was developed by Yiaga Africa with support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) to provide a comprehensive methodology for assessing the integrity and quality of local government elections in Nigeria.
The meeting, which gathered election stakeholders including election management experts from the federal level and three target model SIECs, civil society practitioners, and academia, was aimed at presenting the Index Tool to stakeholders and gathering their feedback to improve the Index Tool.
In her opening remarks, Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, highlighted the journey that began nearly a year ago with a working group comprising academia, state independent electoral commissions (SIECs) from Lagos, Kaduna, and Akwa-Ibom, and other technical experts. She emphasized the need for the index, considering the Supreme Court ruling, stating, “Having credible elections at the local level is a goal this tool will help achieve, as it will help in ensuring electoral integrity at the local level.”
Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, emphasized the significance of the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment, declaring October as the “super month of Local Government elections in Nigeria.” He pointed out the need to benchmark local government elections against specific indicators, which is why the Index Tool was created. He also reiterated Yiaga Africa’s position that the proposed bill to create the Local Government Independent Electoral Commission presents a conflict of functions between SIECs, INEC, and the new LGIEC.
“Yiaga Africa believes that SIECs need to be strengthened and their operational and financial independence guaranteed in the constitution,” he emphasized.
Simon Fanto, Deputy Country Director/Head of Programs at IFES praised the ongoing partnerships with Yiaga Africa and shared that the index tool was envisioned for global application. He expressed optimism that it would be used in other elections besides local government once tested and applied.
The highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the index tool by Safiya Bichi, Head of Program Management at Yiaga Africa. She stressed the growing need to strengthen the third tier of government and the increased clamor for Local Government autonomy, which necessitated the development of the LG election index tool. Explaining the tool, Safiya mentioned that it uses data-driven indicators in the form of positive and negative questions to test the integrity of LG elections.
According to the framework popularized by the Electoral Integrity Project (EIP), the tool measures electoral integrity and credibility using eleven criteria across three election phases: electoral laws, procedures, boundaries, voter registration, party registration, campaign media, campaign finance, voting process, vote count, post-election matters, and electoral management.
Participants also provided feedback and inputs on the index tools, contributing to its refinement and effectiveness in ensuring credible local government elections.
The development of the Index Tool is part of a project supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) to strengthen the resilience of SIECs, standardize the conduct of local government elections and promote public participation and trust in these elections.
