The Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abdullahi Adamu Candido, has decried increasingly apathy of voters to local government elections, saying that many Nigerians prefer to focus on presidential and governorship elections and soliciting for more participation in council polls.
Fielding questions from journalists Friday during a 2-day media retreat in Nasarawa for AMAC Press Corps, Candido reacted to the report by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that out of the 2,260 polling units in the FCT, 593 of them have no registered voters and no election would take place at the polling units, saying that there is need for positive change on the part of the electorate.
He said: “The issue of 593 polling units not having registered voters in the FCT was discussed by INEC with stakeholders during our meeting yesterday. Area council polls usually receive this kind of apathy. Many people don’t take local governance as something that concerns them, which is a misplacement of thought because the local government is where their local challenges are resolved and settled. Unfortunately, many Nigerians don’t even understand that. They have been called upon to ensure rapid response as far as local council polls are concerned.
“They should not think of presidential elections as the only thing they would be happy to come and vote and go. Your councillor in your ward and local council matters. Your chairman in your ward and local council matters. It is very necessary that Nigerians are yet to know that local polls are too important to be ridiculed and abandoned.
“It is no longer news that we were able to settle some debts from the previous administration, while others are still hanging, because of paucity of funds that we experienced in the last two years, probably as a result of COVID-19 and what have you. Be that as it may, we have put in place an elaborate transition committee and they are working to ensured that all our commitments and liabilities are studied and kept as a document for subsequent administration. We want to ensure that everything is tidied up so that even if it is one naira that we are leaving as a debt, the incoming administration can take note of it because no government all over the world goes without commitment and liabilities.
“With regards to promotion arrears and whatever they are requesting, we have written and directed FCT JAAC to take it direct from the source. That is why NUT FCT decided to call off AMAC strike. Today, when you go to all the AMAC schools, pupils and teachers have resumed. The remaining five area councils are yet to settle their own and are still on strike. Anyone that has not been settled, a written letter addressed to JAAC Secretariat, led by the Minister of State, has been written for them to take it direct from source, so we don’t have any issue.”
