The two leading opposition parties, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in Nigeria have said that President Bola Tinubu is not sincere about security issues in Nigeria.

They contended that state police will destroy Nigeria’s democracy, weaken and intimidate opposition voices.

In their different statements issued in Calabar on Thursday, they said state police will spell doom for the country even as autonomy of local government areas and state electoral commissions have been rendered impotent.

Chairman of PDP in Cross River State, Vena Ikem wondered what information is available to the President to convince him that Nigeria needs State Police presently, adding that the move will bury democracy.

“If we want to destroy the little we still have as a semblance of democracy, let us go ahead.

“If he wants to test the state police, I wish him luck but that will spell doom for this Republic. We’ll be here to remind us when it happens.

“We tested it with State Electoral commissions and it has proven to be a disaster.

“This President attempted to implement the constitutionally guaranteed autonomy of Local Governments, including the robust interpretation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to that effect and has been frustrated by the governors as the Local Government administrations remain comatose under the frustration of the governors,” he said.

On their part, Dr Effiong Nyong, deputy national publicity Secretary of ADC, said the administration of President Tinubu is not sincere about the state police.

The ADC recalled that during the administration of former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, it was the current president who was more vocal about security issues, blaming Jonathan’s administration and describing it as clueless.

According to the ADC, Tinubu’s administration has gone quiet since his party, APC, took over in 2015 , even as he, too, took over power in 2023, with the security situation becoming worse.

ADC further viewed that Tinubu’s extension of the tenure of the Inspector General of Police was another indication that he was not really serious about security in the country.

The ADC expressed worry that despite humongous monthly allocations to states in recent times, security crises have rather aggravated.

“The government is quick to lament the lack of funds, but even with the funds fallout from the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, it has been more cash to state governments with little attention to security matters.

“It is clear that the government is either not interested or lacks the will to address the security matter,” he added.

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More than one year after local government areas got what could be described as favourable landmark judgement, they are yet to be freed from the grip of state governors.

In July 2024, the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of local government autonomy, affirming the financial and administrative independence of Nigeria’s 774 local councils by declaring actions by state governments unconstitutional.

The landmark judgment prohibited states from dissolving elected councils, installing caretaker committees, withholding funds allocated to local governments from the federation account, and managing local government finances.

However, the full implementation of that judgement remains a mirage, opening further calls that the local government system should be scrapped.

A former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adamu Garba, reopened the debate recently when he called for the scrapping of local governments in Nigeria.

Garba said local governments should be scrapped because State governors use it as a back channel to loot funds, stressing that its power should be transferred to traditional rulers within their domain.

“Local governments take their legislation from the state assemblies and you know what that means. Autonomy or not, the LGs are still ATMs of some state governors.

“In reality, there is no country on earth that has a third tier of government except Nigeria. Since it proved to be non-workable, why not scrap it?

“Instead of struggling to get constitutional authority for our traditional rulers, they should be handed over the local government councils and let them run it according to the local culture and tradition of the people within their domain.

“All entitlements due to LGs should be channeled to the leadership of the traditional rulers of such areas. A form of pre-colonial Native Authority we used to have and was very very effective.”

Scrap SIEC not local governments – AA National Chairman

The National Chairman of Action Alliance, AA, Kenneth Udeze, disagreed with the clamour for the scrapping of local governments in Nigeria.

Udeze pointed out that local governments are a necessary tool in conveying the dividends of democracy to the grassroots.

Speaking , Udeze said: “I don’t agree with that school of thought at all, the only challenge we have in Nigeria is leadership and bad governance that has brought us down to our knees where we are today.

“Yes, in as much as some people can argue that local government is a backend for people to cash out, where things are done properly, we can’t say we have three tiers of government from the federal to state and local government and at the end of the day, we still have issues.

“If the Supreme Court of the land has actually made a pronouncement with respect to issues of sending the local government allocations directly to them with the hopes that leaders, politicians, and administrators make sure that the strict letters of the pronouncement of the Supreme court should be respected, for us in the Action Alliance and as the National chairman of a political party in this country, with respect to the constitution amendment that is going on, we emphasize that local government autonomy should remain extant and that issues that has to do with allowing the government to function on its own, that is the only way leadership can be felt at the grassroot.

“As a politician we all know that every politics is local no matter where you stay, if truly we respect morality and as a matter of fact we respect the law, this will go a long way to frustrate the activities of people who are causing unnecessary insecurity because by the time the funds that are meant for local governments are channeled properly without the intervention of the state through joint account – in fact the joint account issue should find a way in the constitution to get it distorted – so that at the end of the day, everything that has to do with local government should go directly to them without the intervention of the state.

“I can tell you that even from the local government where I come from, when you hear the amount allocated, last month’s allocation was over N400 million and when you get back to the village, you ask yourself where is this money being channeled?

“You find out that it’s still the state government that runs those areas. But then when you talk about getting the dividends of democracy to the grassroot, you can’t shy away from the fact that we need local government administration.

“The best way to anchor this is instead of scrapping local governments we should scrap SIEC, the State Independent Electoral Commission in all the states in Nigeria and let INEC, the only independent body known to conduct election be in charge of local government election, so that when election are being conducted in the states of the Federation, you will find out that when people are properly elected, everybody will mind their business – the state and the federal will mind their business.

“So I’m not in support of the school of thoughts that talks about the scrapping of local government administration in Nigeria.”

Scrapping local governments not in Nigeria’s interest – Lawyer

On his part, activist lawyer, Maduabuchi Idam insisted that the scrapping of local governments is not in the interest of Nigeria.

He said that, “The call to scrap local governments in Nigeria is self-serving and I can tell you it’s only promoted by persons who one way or the other believe that such action will benefit them, it’s not in the interest of Nigeria.

“The provision of section 7 of the constitution is very clear and it was intended to bring government to local authorities which is why it created the local government, because the same section established the local government in Nigeria. Also by the same section it was made autonomous.

“By the virtue of the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered in June 2024 which is the AGF vs the AG of the 36 states in Nigeria, It’s clear that local governments have become autonomous and the idea of scrapping it is self-serving.

“How can you agitate that local governments be replaced with traditional rulers that are appointed by the state?

“Traditional rulers are being given office by the state. If it happens, the idea is that local governments should give way so that the state will perpetually supplant itself on the people direct from the state to local authorities because local governments were intended by the same provisions to bring the government closer to the local authority.”

He added that the clamour should be for local governments elections to be transparent not scrap that tier of government.

He said: “The agitation should be that elections into local government should be transparent, they should be asking for reforms which is what Nigerians are clamouring for proper electoral reforms that would enable candidates to emerge not necessarily from the party that is controlling the state.

“If there is a reform by the electoral act, it will enable chairmen of local government to emerge that would not be under any influence of the state, so the agitation should not be to scrap local governments but it should be to strengthen local government to function as it was intended by the virtue of the constitution.”

Execution of the judgment

The lawyer, however, wondered why the Supreme Court judgment has not been executed.

“I must say that I’m not abreast as to the reason that judgment has not been complied with but I can tell you that the judgment of the Supreme Court is supreme.

“It’s qualified, absolute and commands total compliance and no party, no matter how highly placed is big enough to violate the judgment of the Supreme Court and go scot free,” he added.

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Communal clashes in northern Ghana that started late last month have killed at least 31 people and displaced nearly 50,000, officials said Thursday, with more than 13,000 fleeing across the border into the Ivory Coast.

The violence in Ghana’s Savannah Region broke out on August 24 in the village of Gbiniyiri, near the Ivorian border, the result of an escalating land dispute that has engulfed a dozen communities.

The conflict began when the local chief sold a parcel of land to a private developer, without broader community consent. When the developer attempted to access the land to begin work, residents resisted violently.

Frustration reached a peak when the chief’s palace was set on fire.

Communal conflicts over land and chieftaincy disputes are recurrent in Ghana’s north, though displacement on this scale is rare.

Interior Minister Mubarak Muntaka said in a radio interview Thursday that 13,253 Ghanaians had crossed into the Ivory Coast, citing figures from Ivorian authorities.

Philippe Hien, president of the Bounkani regional council, told AFP that “there are 13,000 people who have arrived in 17 villages” in the area, which is already home to 30,000 refugees from conflict-hit Burkina Faso.

Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) said around 48,000 people had been forced from their homes, mostly women and children.

“For the past five days we haven’t had any gunshots, killings or attacks,” Savannah Regional NADMO Director Zakaria Mahama told AFP, adding that many displaced are beginning to return home.

Both Mahama and Muntaka confirmed the toll of 31 dead.

Some families are sheltering several dozen relatives in cramped rooms, while those in makeshift displacement camps often only have one meal a day, Mahama said.

On the security front, Muntaka said more than 700 military and police officers had been deployed and a curfew instituted.

Savannah Regional Minister Salisu Bi-Awuribe said calm was gradually returning as chiefs and elders worked with security agencies to prevent further clashes.

Authorities fear food shortages after families abandoned farms and livestock during the exodus.

An investigative committee is being set up with traditional rulers and the National Peace Council to probe the causes and promote reconciliation.

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