The leadership of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) in Anambra State has called on the state government to conduct local government elections as a mark of respect for democracy.
The leaders made the call in Awka on Friday during the party’s congress to re-strategise and inculcate the value of true democracy in its members.
In his contribution, a chieftain of the party, Mr Godwin Ezeemo, condemned the use of caretaker committees in the 21 council areas of the South-East state.
He said that Governor Willie Obiano’s failure to conduct elections in the local governments was a slap to democracy and needed to be condemned.
Ezeemo said that the N20 million promised by Obiano to each of the 177 communities in the state for community projects would have been better handled by elected council executives who knew the plight of their people.
“Governor Obiano cannot be in a better position to know the yearnings of the people who are far from him,’’ he said.
He said that state fund should be wisely used to avoid drifting to a “broke and debtor state,’’ adding that the action was parochial and showed lack of vision.
He wondered the level of development such funds could provide, saying it would breed trouble between the people and their community leaders.
The chieftain urged the state government to implement policies that would engineer socio-economic growth of the state.
He said that the state could not afford to go back to the old ways of sharing tax payers’ money to friends.
He recalled that the state government recently borrowed money through bill approved by the state assembly to apply for bailout loan of billions of naira from the Federal Government.
“We do not need all these borrowings; we can source for funds internally and be free from debt.
“The government in the state should return the development burden of the rural areas to the local government as enshrined in the constitution by first conducting free, fair and credible local government elections,” he said.
Also speaking, the state chairman of the party, Mr Matthias Emeke, said that the government should not put in place another caretaker committee for the local governments as the three months of the incumbent committees expire in July.
He challenged the administration to test the people’s mindset about its leadership by conducting the elections.
A party member, Mrs Angel Okoye, said that time had come for the electorate to speak up and condemn the ills of the society.
Mr Mike Igwilo, another party member, said that local government elections should be enforced in all the states and wondered why some governors refused to conduct them.
