ENUGU COUNCIL CARETAKER COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: INTEREST GROUPS LOBBY GOV. UGWUANYI

Rt. Hon. Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu State Governor

In view of the fact that the tenure of the present executives of local governments in Enugu State will expire this coming November and the Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon. Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, is perceived to be planning to appoint caretaker committees to replace them, politicians and serving council chairmen have started lobbying to be appointed.

While speaking with newsmen in Enugu, an erstwhile member of the House of Representative who is the current State Commissioner for Local Government Matters, Chief Hon. Chijioke Edoga, denied knowledge of the governor’s plan to appoint caretaker committees in the local governments from November this year.

In his own words: “November is still a long time. The elected council chairmen and their executives are still functioning. Their tenure still subsists. That’s all I can tell you on that.”

The best-selling and most sought after online business and political news and articles publishers, Tectono Business Review, gathered from the State Electoral Commission’s office that there was no arrangement to conduct the November elections.

We also learnt that the decision to appoint caretaker committees from November this year became necessary in order to save the expenses involved in conducting election.

As it is usually obtainable in Nigeria politics, many interest groups have started lobbying Governor Ugwuanyi to allow them or their area produce the caretaker committee chairmen for their councils.

Tectono Business Review gathered that one of the interest group under the aegis of Equity and Fairness Forum, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area has called on the governor to correct the political imbalance in the council area to ensure justice, equity and fairness among the four zones that make up the local government.

In a statement signed by Francis I. Uzoabalum (Mbanano zone), C. I. Ogbonna (Igboano zone), H. N. Emeka (Ogboli zone) and Jideofo Ikeowa (Adada zone), who are representatives of the four developmental centres, the forum requested that chairmanship position of the local government should go to Igboano zone, stressing that since current democratic dispensation began in 1999, the Igboano area, which has the highest voting population of 51,918 in Uzo Uwani Council had continued to be marginalized in political appointments in the state.