Finally, Abia Wakes Up, Fixes Date For LG  Polls

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Abia State Independent Electoral Commission on Friday, September 20,2024 ,finally woke up from its slumber to announce November 2, 2024 as the date for the State’s Local Council Polls.

The  election will be coming few days after the expiry of the October ending Supreme Court window for enforcement of the “no-elected council officials, no-Federal Allocations”

This is just as it has scheduled Saturday, September 21, for an interactive meeting with political parties and other relevant stakeholders ahead of the election.

The Source (Magazine) had, on Wednesday, September 18, exclusively reported on the widespread apprehension concerning the ABSIEC reluctance to kick- start the process of  installing democratically elected officials at the Third Tier of Government in the State.

The concern comes amidst fears that the State may not be able to meet the October ending Supreme Court  dateline for Local Governments in Nigeria to do away with all interim leadership  arrangements at the council level.

Failure to meet the dateline line is seen as a receipt for the withholding of Federal Allocations of the defaulting councils.

The Source reports that the Nation’s Apex Court had on Thursday, June 20, 2024, in a landmark judgment ruled to reaffirm the financial autonomy of Local Councils in the country.

The Court had ordered among other things that all Federal accruals to the Councils be remitted directly to them, thus putting paid to the much abused States/Local Government Joint Account Committee, JAAC.

Similarly, the Supreme Court had ruled that only Local Councils under the leadership of democratically elected officials will be eligible to receive their monthly Federal Allocation.

Going by the facts of the judgment, the dateline for elected officials to take over at the Council level, or have their accruals withheld.

Instructively, since the Supreme Court’s pronouncement, several States have either held and/or at the verge of holding local polls so as to avoid the withholding of their Council’s Federal Allocations.

But despite the frenzy among many states Government to beat the Supreme Court dateline, Abia remained unperturbed even with the short period left before the Supreme Court window period.

However, in a circular released on Friday, the ABSIEC, also, released time table for the much anticipated polls .

According to the time table, political parties are excepted to begin and conclude all issues relating to primaries between  Tuesday September 24 and October 2 ,2024.