Anambra, Kwara announce dates to hold Local elections

The independent electoral commissions in Kwara and Anambra states have fixed September 21 and 28 respectively for local government (LG) elections.

The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission said it has set machinery in motion to conduct the local government election next month to usher in the democratically elected chairmen for the 16 LG councils in the North Central state.

While the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said it is ready for the exercise, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed reservation over the planned exercise, reports Channels TV.

For nearly five years, the 16 local government areas in Kwara State have been run by sole administrators but the recently inaugurated members of the state independent electoral commission said they are ready to conduct the election in the councils.

In a related development, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission in a statement said LG polls would hold across the 21 LG councils in the South-East state.

“Election timetable schedule of activities and other details can be collected from the headquarters of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, Awka, from Wednesday, 14th August, 2024.”

About 15 states have announced or held local government elections in the last one month since the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the third tier of government, ordering 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 in July also barred power-drunk governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils.