An NGO, Yiaga says Local government administration in Nigeria must be more transparent and open to scrutiny.
Its Director of Programmes, Cynthia Mbamalu, said this on Tuesday in Kaduna at an advocacy roundtable on legislative reform for improved local government elections in Kaduna State.
According to Mbamalu, transparency in local government administration would enable citizens to demand accountability in everyday governance and at election time effectively.
She added that civil society organisations such as human and socio-economic rights groups should help develop robust accountability processes/mechanisms and play watchdog roles.
In collaboration with local government bodies, Mbamalu said, civil society organisations should educate and sensitize citizens on the responsibilities of elected local government officials and citizens’ role in local governance.
She explained that such education/sensitisation programmes should also reorient the electorate toward making demands for collective or community goods rather than personalised demands on elected local leaders.
Speaking further, the director said besides, the composition, finance, and functions of local government councils, it should be prescribed by act of the National Assembly.
Speaking further, she noted a rapidly increasing technology deployment in the Nigerian electoral process to enhance accountability and integrity.
Mbamalu, however, said the experience of adjustment to the use of modern technology in electoral systems are still mainly limited to the national level.
She, therefore, called for the future electoral reforms to address the use of technology to run LG elections, as was the case in Kaduna State.
According to Mbamalu, this could make the processes and outcomes
of elections less cumbersome for the state independent electoral commissions.
Also, she said the CSOs in Nigeria were increasingly acknowledged as watchdogs, maintaining vigilance over the electoral process.
She acknowledged that the CSOs monitoring ensure that election activities are transparent and actively engaged in advocacy for electoral reform.
Mbamalu explained that the engagement would examine the state
of local government elections in Nigeria, beginning with the legal and institutional framework.