The forthcoming elections ranged from the local government elections to the governorship election in Edo state. Recall that many state governors have started conducting local government polls following the judgment of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy.
Recall that the Supreme Court of Nigeria recently affirmed the autonomy of local governments, declaring that they are not appendages of state governments. The court held that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, confer autonomy on local governments, and that any attempt to usurp their powers or interfere with their operations is unconstitutional.
It effectively puts an end to the practice of state governments controlling the affairs of local governments, including the management of their finances and personnel. With this judgment, local governments are now free to operate independently, make their own decisions, and deliver services to their communities without undue interference from state governments.
This led to the pressure on many state governors to ensure that local government elections are conducted at the appropriate time to allow them have access to their federal allocation.
Below are the list of the elections in September
The leading candidates in the election are Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party.
Also, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 125,928 of the 184,438 newly printed permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) have already been collected in Edo state.
The PVC collection, according to INEC, represents 68.3% of the 184,438 new cards issued during the recent continuous voter registration exercise.
A pre-election poll shows that Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, is leading his two main challengers.
In the poll conducted by the African Polling Institute (API), 43% of the respondents favoured Ighodalo as the next governor, 20% favoured Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while 9% favoured the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Olumide Akpata.
However, according to the poll result, 28% of the 2,678 respondents were undecided.
Ten years after the last democratically elected local government election in Anambra state, the Charles Soludo administration has announced Saturday, September 28, 2024, as the new date for the next local council elections in the state.
State chief electoral officer and chairman of the newly inaugurated Anambra state Independent National Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), Genevieve Osakwe, who made the disclosure in a recent press briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Awka said every arrangement leading to hitch-free exercise would be conducted and concluded.
Going by past announcements, the Anambra government is expected to declare a public holiday to enable eligible voters to participate in the local government election scheduled for September 28, 2024.
The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) has also announced that local government election in the state will be held on September 21.
According to a statement on the commission, efforts were being made to ensure that the council poll will be held on the scheduled date.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that some states declared a curfew in response to the violence that followed the nationwide hunger protest.
Several Nigerians thronged the streets on August 10 for the #EndBadGovernance protest, which aimed to draw attention to the country’s widespread hunger and harsh economic realities.
The peaceful protest, however, became violent in some parts of the country, resulting in loss of lives and destruction of properties.
