Former House of Representatives member Chief Sam Oniugbo has called for transparency in the conduct of local government elections to ensure the development of the grassroots.
Oniugbo, a climate change advocate, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that when people are “appointed” and “not elected” via a democratic process, the tendency would be that they would not be accountable to the people.
“I noticed over time that when people are appointed and not elected, they will not be accountable to the people,“ he said.
Oniugbo stated that once such an undemocratic process is addressed, the course of development at the grassroots would turn around.
He suggested that to check the “ugly development”, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or a commission should be allowed to conduct local government elections.
The former lawmaker urged Nigerians not to focus only on the Federal Government as its policies are impacting positively on the states.
“To what extent are the states working for the development of the nation, especially in the rural areas?
“The focus is on the centre, but what about the local government areas, “he said.
He, therefore, enjoined government at the state and local levels to do their best to complement the efforts of the government at the centre and also “carry everyone along.“
“The policies made by the Federal Government impacts on the states but the states too should come up with policies to contribute to national development.”
According to him, there is nothing wrong with the system of government Nigeria is practising but the leadership.
“There is nothing wrong with our system of government, if there are issues we can review the constitution to correct them,“ he said.
On fear by Nigerians of turning the country into a one-party state, Oniugbo said there was no empirical evidence pointing in that direction.
He described Nigeria as a heterogeneous society with a multi-party system where people belong to different political parties.