Kogi State APC Local Council Primaries: A Travesty of Democracy, a Feast of “Selectocracy”
By Adewale Sunday writing from Abuja
The air of political freedom in Kogi State was brief, a mere whisper before the thunder. As soon as the Local Government Chairmen declared their newfound financial and administrative autonomy—a pronouncement that should have heralded a dawn of grassroots democracy—those with a keen eye for political maneuvering knew immediately that something sinister was not just “cooking,” but was being meticulously concocted in the political kitchen of the Confluence State.
The Illusion of Consensus
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The expectation was a vibrant, open political contest where the people, the true custodians of local power, could finally choose their representatives.
The reality, however, was a cynical exercise in political control. Instead of a primary election that allows for the robust vetting of candidates and the testing of their popular appeal, a contrived consensus—more accurately described as a pre-selected slate—was ruthlessly shoved down the throat of the electorate and the grassroots party members.
What the people witnessed was “selectocracy” at its most egregious. This is not governance by the people; it is governance by selection.
It is a process where the genuine democratic principles of merit, competence, and verifiable performance were unceremoniously jettisoned in favor of obedience, loyalty to a powerful few, and the continuation of entrenched political mediocrity.
The APC structure, meant to be a democratic platform, was thus reduced to an apparatus for rubber-stamping an already decided outcome, disenfranchising thousands of members in the process.
The sheer panic to avoid a free and fair primary election is entirely understandable, even predictable, given the abysmal and verifiable non-performance of the outgoing chairmen.
Their tenure has been characterized by stagnant development, crumbling infrastructure, and a palpable disconnect from the needs of the local populace.
Yet, can the chairmen be solely blamed for their failures? The deeper, more insidious structural issue lies in the financial architecture of the state.
For too long, the statutory funds intended for the development of the 21 local councils have been systemically appropriated and siphoned off by the State government, leaving the councils perpetually starved of resources.
The Chairmen, reduced to mere administrative figureheads, were often left with only the crumbs—a paltry allowance insufficient even for basic recurrent expenditure, let alone impactful community development projects.
This financial emasculation turns the local government system into an executive extension of the state, not an independent tier of governance.
This charade—this mockery tagged as a local government election—reaffirms an urgent national imperative: State Electoral Commissions (SIECs) must be completely divested of the responsibility for conducting local government polls.
A commission established, funded, and controlled by the very state governor whose party is competing in the election can never be truly independent. Their lack of autonomy guarantees that the process will always be a predetermined sham.
It is time for a nationwide agitation to hand the conduct of local government elections over to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Only a truly independent body, insulated from the immediate political pressures of the state government, can guarantee the credibility and fairness required for a democratic contest.
The current system ensures that meaningful, grassroots development in Kogi State and beyond will remain a perpetual mirage.
As long as democracy is continuously slaughtered in the abattoir of selectocracy, as long as the people’s voice is muffled by pre-arranged consensus, the local councils will continue to fail as the fundamental engines of progress they were designed to be.
The APC in Kogi State has shown that its priority is control, not development, and this latest travesty is a stinging indictment of the failure of internal party democracy.
