The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on ICT and Cyber-security, Hon Adedeji Olajide, has advocated that the responsibility of conducting local government elections be given to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Hon Olajide, the lawmaker representing Ibadan North West/South West federal constituency, said this during a chat with journalists in Ibadan on Sunday.
According to Hon Olajide, rather than the state-controlled electoral commissions saddled with the conduct of local government polls, INEC should take over the role to ensure that elections were properly conducted.
“If we want elections to be done right, INEC should take up the affairs of the local government elections. I don’t think there should be two goal posts for the same game. We are playing the same ball. They should be one and with that they will be matured”, he said.
Hon Olajide added, “Truth be told, some governors have abused the process. Some governors put in place caretaker committees. This does not allow for knowledge transfer and continuity. So, I support the idea that INEC should be conducting local government elections in our states”.
Speaking further, the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on ICT and Cyber-security also said in view of the economic situation, the country could return to parliamentary system government.
“This is because the cost of federalism is almost unaffordable. The cost of running our government today is high. We can’t afford it as a nation. We are just growing in debt, and if necessary, we should return to it”.
On the minimum wage, Hon Olajide stressed that minimum wage for workers should not be less than N100,000 in Nigeria.
“Minimum wage cannot be N60,000. Anything less than N100,000 is unacceptable for me. If a bag of rice is N77,000, and that is our staple food, everybody should be able to afford it,” he said.
