LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF INEC AND SIEC AND THE NEED FOR CREDIBLE AND TRANSPARENT ELECTIONS

<p>Many state governments have resorted to "caretaker committees" instead of allowing their State Independent Electoral<br>Commissions (SIECs) to hold elections when they are scheduled. It has been known that the party in charge of a state apparatus has<br>won elections in those cases. The primary aim of this research is to evaluate the influence of local government elections on Nigeria's<br>political evolution. Among the specific goals are evaluating the function of state political executives in deciding local government<br>representation in Nigeria and evaluating the actions of SIECs in overseeing local government elections.<br>This paper analyzes Nigerian local government polls using a comparative/case study methodology. Geopolitical considerations are<br>used to discuss this. Using a scientific research methodology, the study included both qualitative and quantitative data. Primary and<br>secondary data were gathered through observation and interview techniques, as well as from newspaper publications and other official<br>records related to elections and offices. Among the study's conclusions are that SIECs are merely independent in name and not in<br>reality, and that many state governments in Nigeria do not give local government elections a high priority in their state's political<br>landscape out of concern for their political rivals. The study suggests, among other things, that Nigeria should follow the Third<br>Republic's system, which gave the EMB the authority to hold elections at all levels of government, and that local elections in Nigeria<br>should be integrated into the nation's electoral process in all its implications.</p>