Pix of Commissioner for Local Governmet and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu
Otti preparing grounds for conduct of LG poll
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Pix of Commissioner for Local Governmet and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu
Abia State government says it is preparing the ground for the conduct of a free, fair and transparent local government election in the state.
Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu, disclosed this while answering a question during the weekly news briefing on the State Executive Council meeting on Monday, at Government House, Umuahia.
The question was whether the state, after one year on the saddle, has any plans to conduct elections into the local government system, as Governor Alex Otti had promised diring his campaigns.
Prince Nwachukwu said that the LG poll would hold after the local government system in the state has been revived and stabilised.
The Commissioner said the local government system had collapsed in the state when the current administration came to power in May, last year.
He said that it was to revive the system that Governor Alex Otti appointed Mayors for the 17 local government areas in the state, adding that to assist the local government heads to achieve that goal, the Otti administration has been injecting funds into the Councils.
“This government appointed Mayors. By the time we came into government, all the local government headquarters were in pitiable situations, the buildings were collapsing.
“Upon the appointment of the Mayors, His Excellency gave them marching orders, please retrofit all the LG headquarters and reconstruct all that needed to be reconstructed and bring them back to life.
The Governor needed to get people who have the capacity to manage men and resources. If you are able to get back to life the local government system and stabilise the system, then you conduct election,” the Commissioner said, adding that so much money was needed to to bring the local governments back to life.
“So for us, the most important thing is not the local government election. We agree, it is important, but the most important question is if we conduct election, where will those people start from?, he asked rhetorically.
“That money for election,” he continued, “can be used to revitalise the local governments, get them back to life, then when you conduct elections, they see the bases from where to start.
That is the thinking of this government and that is what this government is going to do.”
He reiterated that “Dr Alex Otti has promised that he is going to conduct election in the local governments, and that will be done.
“Once we are done with what we are doing, the maximum time for the Mayors is one year, elections will be conducted and for the first time, Abians will see a transparent election at the local government level,” he said.
