Kolade Larewaju
9 April 2002
THE open voting system will be used in electing local government chairmen and councillors nationwide next month, according to Gov. Olusegun Osoba.
This option was agreed upon by the 36 state governors at their Abuja meeting last week, Chief Osoba told an Alliance for Democracy (AD) consultative forum in Abeokuta yesterday.
Said he: "To print ballot papers for the 774 local government areas before the elections would be impossible. So we resolved to use the open ballot system which is not strange to us as it was used in the 1991 and 1992 elections."
Chief Osoba said the governors also decided against interfering with the local government polls in the interest of democracy in the country.
"Democracy would depend on the elections to be held on May 18. If they are free and fair, we will all know our limitations," he said.
He said that his administration was going ahead with planned creation of more local governments and that Monday, April 15 would be work-free day to enable the people take part in the referendum to determine their support for new council areas.
"After Monday, each council area would convene to pass the result of the referendum which will be forwarded to the state House of Assembly for two thirds majority to pass.
"We will conduct elections in all councils approved on May 18 and we intend to invite pro-democracy and human rights groups to witness the referendum while the Speaker of the state House of Assembly would invite members of the National Assembly."
Chief Osoba said that because of time constraints there would not be any delineation of wards in the new council areas. "We will not do delineation of wards for now. We will stay with 244 wards but it would still be done.
It is just to reduce the area of controversy," he said.
Chief Osoba directed all permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies to make themselves available to the State Electoral Commission to assist while all project vehicles should be made available to the commission.
He, however, warned those said to be warming up to disrupt the referendum to drop their plans or face the wrath of the law.
Gov. Osoba also spoke on the resource control suit lost by the states, saying that there were gains by the states from the judgement of the Supreme Court. According to him, the Supreme Court has declared illegal deductions from the local governments accounts by the Federal Government which he had already opposed.
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