Attendees Express Divergent Opinions As Kwara Assembly Holds Hearing On Bill Seeking To Amend LG Electoral Law In Ilorin

Members of the civil society organizations, and political parties, lecturers at tertiary institutions , representatives of government agencies and other stakeholders attended the public hearing held at the Kwara state House of Assembly complex, Ilorin  on Tuesday.

 The public hearing was held on the bill seeking to amend the Kwara state local government Electoral Law CAP K32 as amended by the Kwara state local government Electoral Law No 2 of 2013.

 Attendees of the public hearing expressed divergent opinions on the proposed bill.

The public hearing was jointly organized by the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Judiciary and  the Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the bill in question is seeking to amend s Section 20 (1)  and six others.

Giving his opening remarks, Hon AGF Salahudeen, who is the Chairman,  House Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Judiciary, noted that as a parliament that is passionate about the state, the public hearing was held to allow stakeholders to give their take on the bill while promising that views and opinions expressed would be looked into and considered by the house of assembly.

He also added that members of the public are allowed to make their oral or written submissions available to the two committees.

 Declaring the public hearing open at 1.27 pm  , Speaker Yakubu Salihu Danladi ,who began his speech at exactly  1.19 pm, asserted that the House of Assembly is not an ‘extension’ of the executive arm of government as insinuated in some quarters citing absence of members of the executive at the gathering.

He also  noted that members of the state house of assembly are representatives of the State of Harmony since each of the 24 state constituencies has a representative among them.

He urged all the stakeholders to set aside sentiments and political  differences and ensure that they prioritize the interest and progress of Kwara state adding that a political party only serves as a platform  to achieve political aspirations.

‘If we get it right,  future generations will commend us. This is not a time to debate or use foul language’ he said.

Promising that the committee will do justice to the assignment they have been mandated to handle , Danladi, also noted that he is representing all Kwarans  for now cognizant that electioneering has ended.

The technical session later  began at  1.29 pm with the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji  Abubakar Bata getting invited to give his ministry’s take on the issue.

‘It is a bill presented by the governor to suit the purpose of conducting a free and fair election and the ministry is in full support of the bill’ he said.

Representative of the Ministry of Justice, Hajia Hajarah Wudo , who noted that new legislations are made for posterity, potency or improvement of the status quo, added that there is a need to rejig the local government electoral law to ensure that things are done in line with standard practice hence the decision to come up with the bill.

She also noted that the proposed bill has taken care of all pre and post-election matters.

Wudo also used the opportunity to talk about the typographical errors made in the ‘draft legislation’ including numbering irregularities and a proviso under number 4 which was repeated.

Commissioner of Police, Mr. Victor Olaiya, who was represented at the public hearing by a police officer, disclosed that he has perused the bill, while assuring the lawmakers and all ‘political actors’ in the state of neutrality and commitment to protection of lives and property.

Chairman of the Kwara state Independent Electoral Commission (KWAISEC) , Mr. Okanla Baba   ,  representative of  the Local Government Service Commission,  publisher of an online news outlet, Mr. Oyewale Oyelola and others   also spoke in support of the bill.

A lecturer at the Department of Law, Al-Ikhmah University, Ilorin, Barrister  Abdullahi Abdulrouf  , however faulted Section 20 (1) which seeks to delete 90 days and have it replaced with 360 days.  He argued that the status quo should be maintained noting that doing otherwise would amount to seeking to delay the conduct of local government elections.

He also opined that Section 21  sub section 24 is ‘meaningless’ while sub section 5  is  according to him ‘ambiguous’

   Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Kwara state, Mr. Lanre Lateef , who noted that the citizens are looking forward to having the local government elections conducted,  also called having unelected officials in charge of third tier of government in the state ‘an aberration’.

He  also  proposed that what is contained in Section 20 (1)  should be made to be 180 days instead of 360 days.

PDP in a submission made on behalf of the party by Mr. Olusegun Adewara , the state Publicity Secretary , urged the parliament to put a halt to actions on the bill and start a fresh legislative process submitting that the lawmakers had failed to give themselves enough time to harvest opinions and views from the stakeholders and thought leaders in the state.

 Adewara, who held the audience spellbound, also made the case  for immediate withdrawal of the bill  .

The party noted that the parliament has shown readiness to hastily pass the bill into law , the fact that the bill  which was sent to the house of assembly on October 18 , 2023 , was made to scale the first reading and the second reading within 9 working days has according to the PDP made it clear that things were hurriedly done with regard to it.

He also cited the typographical errors discovered in the ‘draft legislation’ as submitted by the representative of the Ministry of Justice.

The party further argued that being an executive bill, the speed of action with respect to it has given the citizens a reason to worry.

 The bill , the party submitted, should be withdrawn completely.

 Representative of  Kwara Agenda , Mr Yakub Kannike, who also opposed the bill,   lamented failure to hold local government elections in the state  since 2017 .

Mr Lanre Osho, who is the Deputy Coordinator, Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), urged the parliament to suspend   actions on the bill  for now or ensure that it does not come into force before conducting the local government elections.

‘’We pray that they reconsider it some time in the future  after the Local Government elections must have been conducted by the Kwara state Independent Electoral Committee (KWSIEC) using the subsisting Law that states that  notice of election period is ninety (90) days.

Or for the House to pass the proposed amendment to the Kwara state LG Electoral Law, provided that the commencement date of the Law would be sometimes in 2025 after the next (anticipated) LG elections. 

For clarity, if passed into Law, it should not affect the next LG elections, but should affect future elections after the next (anticipated) election. 

The legislature has the power to set the commencement date of a law to a future date in the public interest’ Osho said.

Being legal practitioners, the Majority Leader,  Hon Oba Abdulkadir Magaji, and the  chairman ,Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Judiciary,, Hon AGF Salahudeen provided legal opinions during the public hearing.

Apparently conscious of growing concerns about it,  Hon Oba Magaji also repeatedly explained that the Section 20 (1) actually stated that ‘not later than’ which does not necessarily imply that the whole 360 days must be exhausted.

The Speaker however stole the show by displaying maturity and calming frayed nerves each time he noticed a potentially explosive situation, this was not unnoticed as it earned him a standing ovation at the instance of the representative of a civil society organization , Mr. Ahmed Sikiru ,who was invited to give the vote of thanks.

Almost all the participants did not also object to taking a group picture with the Speaker after the public hearing ended-Team@orientactualmags.com
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