Political analysts have advocated electoral reforms at the local government level to eradicate the winner-take-all tactic in local government elections.

The political analysts, who spoke on Wednesday in Ibadan, said the call had become necessary given the major roles being played by party favouritism in the outcome of council elections in the country.

The LG polls conducted in Oyo on April 27 saw the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning all the chairmanship and council seats in the 33 LGAs.

The situation was also the same in Gombe, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) cleared all 11 LGAs in the council elections held on the same day.

According to Abubakar Oladeji of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), reform is necessary to improve local government.

Mr Oladeji said council election was crucial to good governance, hence the need to address some of the challenges and setbacks currently experienced by the third-tier government.

In correcting the anomalies, political scientists have said that the funding issue for SIECs must be addressed.

“We need restructuring in all areas of our national life in Nigeria,” he said.

Another political scientist, Michael Oni, of Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun, described local government elections in Nigeria as “no election at all.”

He said this was because the electorate usually believed that the election outcome would favour the ruling party in the state, “and as such, they would see no need for wasting their time and energy.”

Mr Oni was also of the opinion that INEC should and could not handle local government elections, as it falls within the purview of the state government.

A legal practitioner, Kareem Jubril, said that a ruling party clearing all the chairmanship and council seats in the local government elections in any state did not mean that there was rigging.

Mr Jubril said, “Rigging is an allegation that must be proved, so anyone who says that the election was rigged must be able to prove it beyond reasonable doubt. However, whether we like it or not, state governments will always have some measure of control over the local governments.” 

He added, “What is most important to us is that the local government elections were conducted under a peaceful atmosphere. Other political parties should just accept it and team up now before the conduct of another election.” 

(NAN)