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From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has been urged to immediately set machinery in motion to conduct elections in Local Governments and markets in the State.
The leaders of Campaign for Democracy (CD) in South East Zone and Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation (HURIDE) Mr. Dede Uzor who made the charge in a statement lamented that since 1999 when democracy returned to the country, Anambra State had only organised two Local Government elections and that was during the early days of Late Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju and the twilight of Peter Obi’s administration.
He stated that for the eight years Chief Willie Obiano held sway, he did not organise Local Government elections and almost one and half years into his first tenure Prof. Soludo’s body language is not shown as someone who wants to organise Local Government or market elections.
Uzor said the groups and indeed many Anambra citizens see that the Professor of Economics is a democrat to the core who will follow all the necessary democratic tenets and principles.
The groups urged Prof. Soludo to begin to set machinery in motion to conduct Local Government and market elections in the State to enthrone democracy and good governance in those areas.
He said the current Caretaker Committee arrangement which is renewed every three to six months is not only unconstitutional but prone to corruption and statutory market constitutions and abuse of the constitutional order.
“It is against this backdrop, we called for the setting up of the State Electoral Commission which is constitutionally empowered to organise the Local Government election within the next six months.
“In the case of the election into the markets, there are no obstacles in commencing the elections in the different markets by the next few months, this has become imperative if Soludo must win the confidence of the traders in the State.
“The current Caretaker Committee from ASMATA to the markets are due for conduct of elections and were not popular among traders in the State but they wouldn’t want the election to take place because most of them cannot win the election” Uzor stated.
The groups however said that Governor Soludo needed strong leaders who would hold the markets for him, not the present crop of market leaders who cannot win their respective line elections.
