CHANGING LG LEADERSHIP FREQUENTLY ABSURD, REP TELLS SOLUDO. (PHOTO).

 Changing LG leadership frequently absurd, Rep tells Soludo

The member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Afam Ogene, has described as “ridiculous, undemocratic and abuse of power”, the decision by the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to continuously snub the calls for local government elections in the state.

Ogene, who is the Labour Party’s House of Reps’ Caucus Leader, said rather than conduct LG elections, Soludo had gone ahead to appoint the transitional committee chairman for all the 21 local government areas in the state, saying it was unfair for the development and dreams of the people.

The lawmaker stated this in a statement on Sunday in response to the correspondence between the office of the governor and the local government chairmen of the governor’s party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, calling for submission of CVs by interested persons within the party, through the office of the party’s LGA chairmen, for appointment into the LG Transition Committee.

He said, “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 another such change this month, that would be the eighth time within two years in office.

“That, to me, would be an inglorious record by a democratically elected governor. This puppeteering style of leadership, which toys with the destiny, aspiration 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.”

The Rep contended that Soludo’s refusal to conduct LG elections did not help the management of scarce resources or the development of the LGAs.

“For instance, what manner of meaningful development plan would a transitional 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 queried.

But reacting, the state Commissioner for Local Government and Town Union Affairs, Tony  Nwabunwanne, allayed the fears generated by the development.

Nwabunwanne said, “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.”

Meanwhile, the three-month tenure of the current Transition Committee Chairmen has expired giving room for fresh appointment and approval of another set of Transition Committee Chairmen.

This is contained in a letter titled ‘Expiration of tenure and handover to Heads of Local Government Administrations’ dated May 17, 2024, and signed by Nwabunwanne.

As a result, Soludo has directed APGA members and stakeholders to nominate three candidates, including a female nominee, from which he would choose the next Transition Committee Chairmen for the statutory tenure of three months.

The directive takes effect from today (Monday).