Nigeria’s electoral reform drive risks becoming an exercise in futility if local government elections remain under the political shadow of state governors.
While successive administrations and governments have introduced reforms designed to make elections more transparent, competitive and credible, council elections continue to expose a glaring weakness in Nigeria’s democracy. The country is improving the mechanics of voting without sufficiently fixing the institutions that conduct local polls.
Since 2015, ruling parties in states have repeatedly recorded sweeping victories in local government elections across several states, with opposition parties often alleging manipulation, intimidation and undue influence by state governments.
The Constitution places local government elections under State Independent Electoral Commissions, but pundits say governors exercise significant influence over the appointment, funding and operations of these bodies. This creates a fundamental conflict of interest.
BusinessDay reports that the pattern in which the ruling party in a state sweeps virtually all, or all, chairmanship and councillorship positions in local government elections has persisted despite years of electoral reforms, raising fresh concerns about the independence of State Independent Electoral Commissions and the influence of state governors.
In August 2019, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won all eight chairmanship positions in Bayelsa State and swept the council polls. However, the result came amid an APC boycott of the election over alleged irregularities, making the outcome less indicative of a fully competitive contest.
In April 2021, the PDP recorded a clean sweep in Rivers State, winning all 23 chairmanship positions and all 319 councillorship seats in the local government elections.
In November 2023, the PDP won all 16 chairmanship positions in Taraba State, despite six political parties contesting the election. In April 2024, the PDP won all eight chairmanship positions and all 105 councillorship seats in Bayelsa State.
In April 2024, the PDP also swept Oyo State, winning all 33 chairmanship positions and the councillorship seats across the state. In June 2024, the APC won all 17 chairmanship positions and 178 councillorship seats in Yobe State. The state electoral commission said other parties participated but failed to win at any level.
In August 2024, the PDP won all 20 chairmanship positions in Bauchi State. The APC subsequently rejected the outcome, describing it as a mockery of democracy. In September 2024, the APC swept the Imo State council elections, winning all 27 chairmanship positions and all 305 councillorship seats.
In September 2024, APGA won all 21 chairmanship positions and all 326 councillorship seats in Anambra State. In October 2024, the APC won all 23 chairmanship positions and all 276 councillorship seats in Benue State.
Also in October 2024, the PDP won all 17 chairmanship positions in Plateau State. The election was contested by 11 political parties.
In October 2024, the NNPP swept Kano State, winning all 44 chairmanship positions and all 484 councillorship seats.
The election was, however, preceded by litigation, including a Federal High Court ruling that questioned the eligibility of the KANSIEC chairman. In November 2024, the APC won all 13 chairmanship positions in Nasarawa State and 140 of the 147 councillorship seats.
In November 2024, the APC also swept Cross River State, winning all 18 chairmanship positions and all 196 councillorship seats. In the same November 2024, the APC won all 20 chairmanship positions and all 236 councillorship seats in Ogun State, despite the participation of 19 political parties.
Again, in November 2024, the PDP swept Zamfara State, winning all 14 chairmanship positions and all 147 councillorship seats. The APC had boycotted the election, citing alleged violations of electoral requirements.
The trend continued in July 2025, when the APC won all 57 chairmanship positions and 375 of the 376 councillorship seats in Lagos State. The 57 positions comprised the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs. The PDP secured only one councillorship seat.
In February 2025, the PDP won all 30 chairmanship positions and all 332 councillorship seats in Osun State. The election itself was controversial and followed a series of legal disputes over the conduct of council elections in the state.
The pattern has persisted into 2026. In June 2026, the PDP won all 21 chairmanship positions and all councillorship seats across Adamawa State’s 226 wards. Also in June 2026, the APC won all 24 chairmanship positions and all 240 councillorship seats in Gombe State. The 24 chairmanship positions comprised the state’s 11 existing LGAs and 13 newly created LCDAs.
In July 2026, the APC swept Edo State, winning all 18 chairmanship positions and all 192 councillorship seats. Taken together, these outcomes revealed a recurring feature of Nigeria’s local government electoral system.
Whichever party controls the state government often possesses enormous political advantages in council elections.
In recent years, Nigeria has introduced major electoral reforms to make elections more transparent and credible, including the Electoral Act 2026, use of BVAS, electronic transmission of results and the INEC Result Viewing Portal. Yet these reforms have barely changed the character of local government elections.
While the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducts national elections, State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) conduct council polls under structures heavily influenced by state governors.
That arguably creates a fundamental conflict. Governors and their parties are political contestants, yet the institutions conducting the elections operate within the political environment controlled by those same governors.
The consequence has been repeated landslide victories by ruling parties, with opposition parties often alleging manipulation and lack of a level playing field.
Jackson Lekan Ojo, political analyst, has urged the National Assembly to use the ongoing constitutional amendment process to overhaul the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), arguing that Nigeria’s electoral reforms will remain incomplete as long as governors retain undue influence over local government elections.
Ojo told BusinessDay that improving voting technology at the national level would mean little if council elections remained vulnerable to political interference.
“Electoral reform cannot be considered successful if we improve the technology of voting while leaving the institutions conducting local elections vulnerable to political control.
“The problem is not only how votes are counted; it is who controls the electoral umpire. The system must be redesigned to make it institutionally difficult for any governor, regardless of political party, to influence the outcome of a council election,” Ojo said.
He urged lawmakers to consider transferring local government elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or establishing a stronger independent national framework that would impose uniform standards on council polls.
Ojo stressed that credible local elections were essential to rebuilding confidence in Nigeria’s democracy because local governments remain the closest level of government to citizens.
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