‘Why Kano council election is delayed’

ASPIRANTS for elected offices at the local council level in Kano State may wait longer than expected to realise their ambition as the Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso administration is yet to perfect arrangements for the conduct of elections at the grassroots.

Except for repeated assurances to hold the elections, head of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission, who has the constitutional mandate to conduct the exercise, is yet to be appointed.

Kano is among the over 25 states of the federation, which are yet to have democratically elected officials in the councils.

On August 1, 2012, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria (FOSIECON) had urged state governors, who are yet to conduct council polls in their states, to quickly do so to end their continued violation of the constitutional provisions on the issue.

INEC said it was unacceptable that only 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had elected chairmen in place while the other states run their councils with caretaker chairmen and sole administrators.

Critics of the governors’ action have accused them of stalling social and physical development at the grassroots, preventing the people from electing their leaders at the third-tier of government.

Although the Kwankwaso administration has refuted speculations, especially by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), that it is indifferent to democratic governance in the councils, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Alhaji Maliki Kuliya Umar, said the hurdles to holding the elections would soon be cleared.

Umar told The Guardian that the delay in holding the election was partly caused by the non-clearance of the nominee for the headship of the electoral commission by the Legislature and pledged that the Kwankwaso administration would soon address the problem.

He said Kwankwaso is committed to people-oriented projects and good governance in the state.

The commissioner said everything was being done by the state government to accelerate the process for the confirmation of the nominee for the electoral body by the House of Assembly.

On the proliferation of Almajiris in the state, Umar contended that the issue transcends Kano, adding that until northern states synergised against it, no single state can tackle the menace.

He said the government, which recently received the report of the retired Justice Wali-led committee on the effective management of the Almajiri system, would implement the recommendations.