For the umpteenth time, Plateau State Local Government elections have been shifted but very few people raise questionable eyebrows, the citizens seem to be passively satisfied with the development, perhaps it all boils down to the political unconsciousness of Nigerians as a whole. Most appalling is the attitude of the ‘opposition’ politicians in the State (if they really exist). The ordinary citizen is indifferent about who becomes a Councilor in his ward or a Chairman in his Local Government. If the continuous procrastination of the much belated Local Government elections is a product of the negotiation between the political parties in the State and PLASIEC, then I pray my ignorance be forgiven, but if not, then what could be the best reason for opposition politicians to trivialize grave issues such as postponement of Local Government elections? Of course we know it would be abnormal for ruling party apparatchiks and minions to not concede to postponements preconceived to be in their favour.

The common Plateau man feels he has nothing to lose whether elections hold, or not, as long as he receives his salary or attends school unabatingly, besides, as the name implies, he perceives it to be for ‘local people’ and as such, if it is not Presidential or Gubernatorial elections – ironically where his vote least count – he feels it has no bearing on him. More often than not, he forgets that these Local Governments are as consequential as a family is to a society. Therefore, while the ordinary Plateau man pretends to be unaffected by the outcomes of the Local government elections, Mr. President has keen ears for the result of the elections which form indices for a broader political matrix. For Governors, successful Local Government elections, (in the sense of winning all Local Governments for his party) is a hallmark of his sovereignty and influence. In other words, it is a do-and-win-all or squash-it affair.

For the umpteenth time, Plateau State Local Government elections have been shifted but very few people raise questionable eyebrows, the citizens seem to be passively satisfied with the development, perhaps it all boils down to the political unconsciousness of Nigerians as a whole. Most appalling is the attitude of the ‘opposition’ politicians in the State (if they really exist). The ordinary citizen is indifferent about who becomes a Councilor in his ward or a Chairman in his Local Government. If the continuous procrastination of the much belated Local Government elections is a product of the negotiation between the political parties in the State and PLASIEC, then I pray my ignorance be forgiven, but if not, then what could be the best reason for opposition politicians to trivialize grave issues such as postponement of Local Government elections? Of course we know it would be abnormal for ruling party apparatchiks and minions to not concede to postponements preconceived to be in their favour.

The common Plateau man feels he has nothing to lose whether elections hold, or not, as long as he receives his salary or attends school unabatingly, besides, as the name implies, he perceives it to be for ‘local people’ and as such, if it is not Presidential or Gubernatorial elections – ironically where his vote least count – he feels it has no bearing on him. More often than not, he forgets that these Local Governments are as consequential as a family is to a society. Therefore, while the ordinary Plateau man pretends to be unaffected by the outcomes of the Local government elections, Mr. President has keen ears for the result of the elections which form indices for a broader political matrix. For Governors, successful Local Government elections, (in the sense of winning all Local Governments for his party) is a hallmark of his sovereignty and influence. In other words, it is a do-and-win-all or squash-it affair.

In the end, the losers are not the politicians, because even if they fail, they will still move to another party (like the great APC migration), or be absorbed into the ruling party. In any case, ‘man must wack’, ‘man must chop’. Once again, the losers are the ordinary people who struggle to find ordinary water, static electricity and many other basic infrastructure and social welfare that they have been deprived of since the inception of our nascent democracy.

Transition Implementation committee Chairmen are merely figureheads appointed to fill a vacuum and have a taste of the national cake (no offence meant). Their usual excuse is that they are not allotted funds for Capital development, so they pay salaries, meet other recurrent expenditure, and sometimes join the queue for Chairmanship of the Local Government again – having had a tip of the iceberg. Last week it was on air that TIC Chairmen’s Wives’ Association paid a courtesy call to the First Lady of the State. I was baffled, not because they paid the call, but because there is a group like that for the few months TIC chairmen have been appointed to serve. It implies that the beneficiaries of elections postponement are more than the ones that meet the eye. The truth is, we cannot hold TIC Chairmen accountable for misusing funds, afterall, many of them will return to their base at the expiration of their tenure. We can only hold people whom we have duly elected from among us responsible since we voluntarily gave them the mandate with our votes. This brings me to another question: Where do all the funds allocated for Local Government expenditure go to? Or was Local Government Capital expenditure not captured in the previous years’ budgets? If they were, I hope government would be generous enough to remit the backlog of funds approved for infrastructure to Chairmen of Local Governments after being elected that is if February 25th is the final date of the elections.

I am aware that many aspirants for Councillorship and Chairmanship positions have run out of funds for their campaign due to the continuous postponement of elections; 7th December, 21st December, 30th January, and now 25th February, 2014. Some have resigned their appointments in order to contest the elections. Now who will reimburse these people for their loss? Should we blame it on their fate?

On a general note, If PLASIEC’s perpetual shift of LG elections is towards the freest and fairest elections ever, then, I hope that they will achieve that goal, but when it is shifted more than twice, the trust on the credibility of PLASIEC itself wanes. Many functions have not been carried out at the Local Government levels because the elections are yet to be conducted. I hope that someday when Local Government elections are unnecessarily postponed in the State, it will meet stiff resistance from the people who are concerned about the development of their State.

By Bizum Yadok

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Plateau state LG elections: Implications of delay by Bizum Yadok