The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Benue State today advocated for the collapse of states electoral bodies to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conduct Local Government elections in the country.
State Chairman of IPAC, Ibrahim Idoko, made this known at the town hall meeting with Makurdi and Guma LGAs community stakeholders organised by SOS Children’s Villages through the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN II) project to review the 2023 elections and feedback from the LG elections in Benue, reports Daily Trust.
He observed that lapses in the 2023 general election which raised concerns about the immediate etransmission of results and the disputes that trailed the recently conducted local government elections in Benue, stressing the need for improvement in future electoral processes.
“State electoral bodies should be collapsed and INEC should be allowed to conduct the local government elections. The idea that the local government is tied to the apron’s string of the governor is making local government areas not to develop.
“We must make sure that the electoral process is allowed to thrive at the grassroots,” Idoko posited.
Earlier, David Gabriel of SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, noted that for any society thrive, there must be a need to strengthen the grassroots structure.
