in their spheres of influence as being legitimate, natural rulers. Many of them are widely revered and their pronouncements are given due weight. The number of traditional kingdoms has been estimated at approximately 68. With the possible exception of local governments (the third tier of Nigeria’s federalism), traditional governments provide for meaningful political participation. While their political significance in federal and state governments is only indirect and nominal today, traditional leadership serves as an important link for many Nigerians. Most Nigerians in the rural areas especially do not have access to the institutions of the Nigerian state. They find the traditional leaders more responsive, which increases their closeness to the traditional leaders. This closeness has instrumental relevance for governance in Nigeria, since the national and state governments exploit it by using the traditional leaders as conduits for public mobilisation. However, for reasons of history and tradition, the importance of traditional leaders varies from one ethnoregional group to another in Nigeria. 232. However, some stakeholders emphasised that certain traditional rulers are autocratic, unaccountable and politicised, stating that their roles should be limited to nonpartisan cultural roles. Although the position of many traditional rulers is hereditary, a large number of traditional rulers are backed by political leaders; hence some owe allegiance to the appointing leader or authority rather than to the followers. 233. CRM interactions with both state and nonstate stakeholders revealed conflicting views regarding the institution of traditional leaders. There are those who hold the traditional political institutions – of which traditional rulership is an important, integral component – in high esteem. They see traditional rulers as the only leaders close to the grass roots, especially the rural community. Therefore, traditional rulers are well placed to help improve communication between citizens and rulers. On the other hand, there were those who portrayed traditional institutions and traditional authority as archaic, authoritarian, gerontocratic and irrelevant in a modern society. iii. Recommendations 234. The APR Panel recommends that: • The review of the electoral system and process be prioritised on the government agenda. In particular, the granting of financial autonomy from the executive to the INEC, as well as streamlining the appointments of persons to the INEC, should be guaranteed. (INEC, National Assembly and federal government) • A national conference be convened to address all contentious constitutional issues, including the powers, functions and roles of the local government tier to make it more functional vis-à-vis the federal and state governments. (Federal government, Ministry of Justice and National Assembly) • In order to promote constitutional democracy, there should be strict adherence to the rule of law and implementation of policies in line 95