Former Ogun State Governor, Chief Segun Osoba said it is undemocratic for governors to use their political powers to enthrone their party men as chairmen of all local governments.
Osoba stated this in an interview on Channels Television on Friday.
According to him, there must be a total change in the country’s political dynamics for federalism to be effective in Nigeria.
He said, “If you look at how we conduct our local government elections, I am very unhappy. Virtually, any government in power will claim 100% success in our local government elections.
“It is painful that when local government elections are conducted at the state level, each state will be scoring 100% and when it comes to general elections, those who are scoring 100% in their states either lose the general elections or struggle to survive; it doesn’t speak well of the current democratic system,” Osoba said.
The former governor’s comments come after the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the third tier of government, directing the Federal Government to pay the 20.60% monthly allocation of the 774 LGs in the country directly to their exclusive accounts and not to accounts controlled by governors.
The apex court in the landmark judgement also barred power-drunk governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils.
Nigerians believe that true LG autonomy would come in free and fair local government elections where the parties in power in states have no power to coronate LG chairmen in elections conducted by state-controlled electoral umpires which in most cases declare party loyalists of governors as LG chairmen.
Osoba, who was Ogun State governor first from January 1992 to November 1993, and later between May 1999 and May 2003, said party discipline must be restored to the political arena.
The APC chieftain said elections must be free and fair at local government, state and federal levels.
He said highest-bidder politics should end and Nigerians should be allowed to put their desired representatives in political offices.
He said, “I am not happy. The party discipline is not as strong as it should be. I have been preaching direct primaries all my life, not delegates, because in the case of delegates, it is the highest bidder. We all know this…but with direct primaries with registered (party) members, there will be less corruption.”
He said the APC needed to “still work hard on current party discipline and structure” like in the days of the late sage Pa Obafemi Awolowo who allowed party members to ventilate their views in regular meetings.
He said though the expectations of Nigerians have not been satisfactorily met since 1999, the stability of the democratic dispensation in the Fourth Republic should be considered a gain.
Osoba said restructuring in a “consensus manner” has become necessary but the National Assembly cannot be bypassed in realising the tenets of restructuring.
