They lamented that the last time elections were conducted at that tier of government was during the closing stages of the administration of former Governor Peter Obi in 2014.
As a result, for over nine years now, the 21 local governments in Anambra State have been run by caretaker committee chairmen appointed by the governor.
The stakeholders, therefore tasked Soludo with the need to quickly conduct elections in local government areas in the state, adding that governance is suffering at the grassroots due to the non-elected officials.
The stakeholders stated this in Awka, on Saturday, during a forum organised by the International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre in collaboration with the African Centre for Leadership and Development.
Soludo had during the 2021 governorship campaign and even at swearing-in as governor on March 17, 2022, assured all that he would conduct local government election within six months in office.
However, the stakeholders, who were worried that the promise was yet to be fulfilled 21 months later, were unhappy that by January 2024, it would be exactly 10 years since the last local government election was conducted in the state.
A lecturer in the Mass Communication Department at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dr Henry Duru, while delivering his keynote address and lecture on the topic: ‘Strengthening accountability in governance and electoral process’, lamented that state governors, not only that of Anambra, have successfully cornered the local government system to their gains.
Duru said, “Conducting local government elections is a statutory thing, and it is enshrined in the constitution, and not something that any aspirant to a position should be promising anyone.
“The transition committee used by the governor to run the 21 local government areas is supposed to be a makeshift thing, pending election, but you now find out that they are almost permanent, and their tenures are renewed every three months. That is not right.”
Earlier, the Coordinator of the International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre, Chris Azor and the Director African Centre for Leadership and Development, Itia Otabor, said the forum was convened to brainstorm ways to push the government of Anambra State to hold local government polls.
Otabor said, “We are not appealing to the governor, we are only reminding him of what he should have done, which he hasn’t done. He is obligated to conduct local government elections because it is statutory.
“Our deliberation will not only be fruitful but a cornerstone towards the conduct of Local Government election in Anambra State. LG election is a constitutional matter not a favour. It is enshrined in s
Section 7 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The constitution stated that there must be democratically elected local government officers. We are here to rally around support and partnership to see it happen.”
Azor, on his part, observed that it was unfortunate that Anambra State was lagging without the conduct of the Local Government election.
“The LG election is very important. We want to encourage and suggest to the government how best to get it done. We are not partisans. Our philosophy is to put people at a stretch. Any government that takes care of the citizens and security have done a pass mark. And Local government election is one of the means of taking good care of the citizens because it encourages citizens participation in governance from the grassroots,” Azor noted.
The forum was attended by the representatives of the Anambra State government, traditional rulers, the Inter-Party Advisory Committee, the clergy, people with disabilities, journalists, civil society organisations and others.
A communique was issued at the end of the forum.
It partly reads, “There is the paramount need to organise local government elections in Anambra State. Governor Chukwuma Soludo promised to undertake local government elections within six months of being elected. If there is an impediment for Soludo not to organise the local government elections, he owes it as a duty to address the state on the matter.
“The first step towards having elections in the local government areas is instituting the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission. It is incumbent on Governor Soludo to duly institute ANSIEC. There is the question of how independent the ANSIEC is. The regular matter all over the country is that the party in power wins all the seats.
“Even so, the resolution is: Let there be the elections first. It needs reiteration that organising the local government election in Anambra State is long overdue. It is as though the third tier of government is dead. Local government workers only go to work when they like.”
