Rep Ogene Blames Gov Soludo For Delay In Conducting LG Elections In Anambra, Condemns Planned Appointment Of Caretaker Chairmen

A member of the House of Representatives,   Hon Afam Ogene, has blamed  Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state  for the delay in conducting local government elections in the state .

Afam, who represents Ogbaru Federal Constituency, has accused the governor of abuse of power alleging that he has  continued to shun  calls for  conduct of local government elections in the state.

Ogene, who is the Labour Party’s House of Reps’ Caucus Leader, added that rather than conducting  the LG elections, Soludo has continued to appoint transition committee chairmen for  the 21 local governments.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the  federal lawmaker said this in a statement he issued on Sunday which was in response to the  letter sent by the governor to the local government chairmen of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) calling for submission of CVs by interested persons in the party, through the office of their LGA chairmen, for appointment to the LG Transition Committees.

‘Records show that Governor Soludo changes LGA Transition Committee members every three months and have, therefore, made these curious changes seven times since assumption of office in 2022. By the time he makes  such a change this month, that would be the eighth time within  his two years in office.

This, to me, would be an inglorious record by a democratically elected governor. This puppeteering style of leadership, which toys with the destiny, aspirations and desires of the grassroots, must be resisted and not allowed to continue to shrink the development potential of the LGAs.

The local government ought to be the most important tier of government, as envisaged by the Nigerian Constitution, because it’s not only the tier that is closest to the people, but it is also the obvious foundation of both the sub-national and the Federal Government and should, therefore, not be at the whims of state governors.

Such undemocratic practice of appointing LGA administrators, rather than democratic election, is an enabler of impunity and lack of democratic accountability and also hurts transparency in the local governments and the state as a whole, as those so appointed would only scramble for personal interests during the three months of their stay in office’ Afam said.

 ‘For instance, what manner of meaningful development plan would a transition committee chairman articulate and execute within a period of three months? Isn’t it troubling that Soludo, a prominent economist, is promoting this charade contrary to all the economic indices that point to the decreasing economic and social fortunes of the people at the grassroots as a result of the shrinking presence of government development activities in the rural areas?

What really is Soludo afraid of in conducting elections in the LGAs, in line with his campaign promises and the desires of the people at the grassroots and provisions of the Constitution? It should be noted that other states, such as Delta, Lagos, Edo, Rivers, Kaduna, Awka Ibom, etc held elections in the third tier of government, no matter how imperfect. Why then is Soludo appointing and discarding LGA administrators as if they are used tissue papers?’ he added.

The state Commissioner for Local Government and Town Union Affairs, Tony  Nwabunwanne, has however said there is no cause for alarm with respect to having an effective administration at the local government level adding that necessary steps are being taken..

‘There is nothing to fear because it has always been a routine thing that on the expiration of the three-month tenure of the Transition Committee Chairmen, the most senior civil servant in the local government council would hold brief pending the approval of the list of the Transition Committee Chairmen by the House of Assembly.

This is the way it is being done and there is nothing new about it. Recall that every three months it is done, and we did it in the last three months and as it were the most senior civil servant held brief until the House of Assembly approved the list’ the commissioner submitted-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you