The opposition parties in Anambra are battling the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance in their quest to make democracy work at the grassroots. IKENNA OBIANERI writes on how opposition parties are battling to break the nine-year-old jinx of non-conduct of the local government election in the state
The battle to break the nine-year-old local government elections jinx is increasingly becoming more intense and fierce in Anambra State between the ruling All Progressives Grand and the opposition groups, which include the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, and other civil society groups in the state, through their verbal war of words.
The local government system which is the closest arm of government to the grassroots as stipulated by the 1999 Constitution, has not had democratically-elected officials in Anambra State for over nine years running. As a result of this, opposition groups, including the APC, the PDP, and other civil society groups, have continued to battle the APGA-led state government over the years, a battle which is now heating the polity of the state in recent times.
The various opposition groups and stakeholders have come out hard on the Anambra State Government because it failed to conduct local government elections in the state in the last nine years. They are complaining that the last local government elections were “hurriedly” conducted in the state during the twilight of the administration of former Governor Peter Obi in 2014, because of the pressure from the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
According to them, successive administrations in the state since 2014, have continued to pay lip service to the calls for a “robust democratic” administration at the local government level, as they have failed, as it were, to conduct elections across the 21 LGAs in the state for over nine years now.
This, they said meant that the role of local government councils had been rendered inconsequential in the state owing to the “overbearing attitude” of these successive administrations, who treated that arm of government as “personal fiefdoms”.
As it is, the 21 local governments in the state do not have elected chairmen or councillors, as successive governors have continued to appoint caretaker committees, in flagrant disobedience to the 1999 Constitution. Sadly too, whether the LG chairmen are appointed or elected, they mostly do the bidding of the governors.
For instance, the administration of former Governor Willie Obiano ran the 21 local government areas with appointed caretaker chairmen and the current governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has continued in the same light, even though he promised to conduct local government elections within six months during his campaigns in 2021.
While Obi conducted only one local government election during his eight-year reign as governor of Anambra State, his successor, Obiano did not hold any election in the eight years he governed the state.
The implication of this is that the jinx of non-conduct of council polls in Anambra has remained unbroken in the last nine years, thereby denying the people what democracy feels like at that level.
According to the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution(as amended), the main functions of a local government council include the consideration and the making of recommendations to the state commission on economic planning or any similar body on “The economic development of the state, particularly in so far as the areas of authority of the council and the state are affected, and proposals made by the said commission or body.
“Collection of rates, radio, and television licenses; establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds, and homes for the destitute or infirm; licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheelbarrows, and carts; establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks and public conveniences; construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a state. The naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses; provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal”, amongst others.
In addition to the above, Anambra, as the state with the largest concentration of markets in the South-East, accrues huge internally generated revenue coming from these markets, motor parks, open spaces, parks and gardens, houses, etc, domiciled in various communities such as Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Nkpor, Obosi, Nnobi, Ogbunike and Agulu.
And given the reluctance of successive administrations in the state to conduct local government polls since 2014, it means most of the functions and benefits listed above that should accrue to the council authorities and grassroots people, have been usurped by the state. At the moment, most of the local governments exist as a shadow of what an autonomous tier of government should be. The 21 LGAs are in the hands of the Local Government Area Transition Committee chairman, appointed by the governor, and who are perceived to be members of APGA by the opposition parties in the state.
As a result of this, both the APC and PDP have consistently been calling on the state governor to resign and let President Bola Tinubu appoint a caretaker governor, insisting that appointing people into the councils as transitional committee chairmen is illegal. They also said the governor had failed to conduct LG elections, 19 months into his administration, even though he promised to do so within six months after his swearing-in in March 2022.
But, while defending the reason the state government has failed to conduct LG polls, the state Chairman of APGA, Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, while speaking to journalists, justify the actions, insisted that the state had validity through a Supreme Court judgment to set up the Local Government Area Transition Committee.
Obi-Okoye recalled that members of the APC in the state had challenged the appointment of Chairmen and Councillors as transition committee in 2019, while the Supreme Court on April 8, 2022, gave “validity and constitutionality” to the appointments.
He said, “Those who make a fuss about the setting up of a transition committee to manage the affairs of the 21 local government areas in Anambra State are oblivious of the judgment of the Supreme Court.
“I think it amounts to ignorance for someone to say that the local government council transition committee is illegal when the Supreme Court had delivered a Judgement giving constitutionality and validity of those appointments.
“This was in a unanimous judgement delivered on April 2022 in an Appeal No 763/ 2019 APC and 21 others vs Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission ANSIEC and 28 others.
“So the fact in issue here is that Soludo has not erred in law by appointing local government council transition committee chairman and councillors.”
Obi-Okoye further insisted that there is also an enabling law by the state House of Assembly on the appointment of Chairmen and Councillors as Transition Committee members, adding that whatever the oppositions are saying is more of “an academic exercise and goes to no issue”.
He also submitted that the non-conduct of local government election in the state is a result of the pending court case filed by the APC adding that if the matter is withdrawn, the election would be conducted.
But the Anambra State Publicity Secretary of APC, Okelo Madukaife, countered the position of Obi-Okoye, saying that “No court has restrained LG elections in Anambra”. He said APGA should stop “lying” and “deceiving” the people, but rather come out clean on their position regarding the LG elections in the state.
Madukaife said, “Not surprisingly, Obi-Okoye did not specifically mention the subject matter of the suit(s), or the specific orders, if any, tying the hands of the Anambra State Government on LG elections.
“Former governor Peter Obi of APGA used that excuse until it suffered self-expiration. Again, former governor Wille Obiano applied that excuse. Now Soludo, who was emphatic about holding the LG election in September 2022, as part of electoral promise has failed and is finding a leeway in the latest APGA umbrage.”
The APC chieftain added, “Our stand is very clear and consistent and it has been a struggle that is more than nine years old. So, the APC stand is non-negotiable. The only point we need to stress is that we are getting to that point where the caretaker committee government is announced by APGA and appointing APGA members. We as APC, will announce our own appointing APC members.’’
Also reacting to the development, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Anambra, Uloka Chibuike, said rural and grassroots development has remained unattainable in Anambra due to the absence of a democratically constituted local government system in the state.
Chibuike said, “The people of Anambra have largely forgotten the primary roles of local government administration, as it has become a tool for political favours and means of retiring allocations. Despite Soludo’s campaign promise to hold local government council elections in his first six months in office, he, like his predecessors, has disregarded the constitution by ‘kidnapping’ the local government council into his back pocket.
“The lack of a functional and elected local government system makes it impossible to achieve community and grassroots development. Insecurity, conflicts between communities, and clashes between farmers and herders persist in Anambra because there is no government structure at the grassroots level to address these challenges and ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of state policies in local communities.”
According to Chibuike, since there is no democratically-elected local government structure in the state, no community has had the chance to start economic planning, expand on their official community plans, or control how their community grows and uses its land.
“If Soludo fails to fulfill his commitment to hold local government elections and continues to refuse access to full allocation from the joint account for local government to start economic and communal planning, rural development will continue to be a pipe dream for the state,” Chibuike added.
Also reacting, a social critic and human rights activist in the state, Mrs Cecilia Okeke, said she passionately appealed to the state governor, to consider conducting local government elections by the second quarter of 2023, but the appeal was not granted.
Okeke said, “It is unconstitutional that instead of elected local government chairmen and councilors, as the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended) stipulates, handpicked officials continue to ‘illegally’ run the 21 local government areas in the state under the bogus title of ‘Transitional Council’. Section 7 of the Constitution guarantees the system of local government by democratically elected officials.
“The last local government election in Anambra State was conducted in November 2014, at the twilight of the administration of former Governor Peter Obi. Obi conducted the election, following intense pressure mounted on him and other erring governors by the Nigerian Governors Forum.
“What this means is that the people at the grassroots in Anambra have not witnessed democracy at that arm of government in the last nine years and it does not augur well and no reason is justifiable for this. The jinx of non-conduct of council polls in Anambra has remained unbroken in the last nine years and it is the people that are being denied.
“There is no rocket science in conducting LG elections, Abia State conducted local government elections twice in the last eight years. Benue State held council elections last year, Adamawa has held. Edo held its own in September and Ondo has fixed theirs for December this year. Oyo fixed its own for April 2024 and other states have been holding elections at that level. But Anambra keeps on offering excuses without taking concrete steps. The way successful administrations in the state have handled local governments is dangerous to democracy.”
Offering a leeway, she said the Anambra State Independent National Electoral Commission should be reconstituted and clear every bottleneck and stumbling block as well as fix a date for the local government elections to be held.
However, another APGA chieftain, Chief Obiorah Ugwu, who also reacted, justified his party’s stand on LG polls, adding that “The opposition who filed different suits at the Supreme Court should go and withdraw it if they want the LG elections to hold. They filed the suits and tied the hands ANSIEC to conduct elections, what do they expect?’’
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