From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
Traders at Margaret Umahi International Market Abakaliki, comprising five Lots, elected their respective executives on Saturday, December 9, at Pa Ngele Oruta Stadium in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Daily Sun gathered that the exercise was in accordance with Governor Francis Nwifuru’s directive during his 2024 budget presentation that there should be no imposition of market leadership on traders.
Chairman-elect of Lot 3, Mr Fidelis Mbam said he was inspired by the need to make the section of the market to be of standard as the other Lots by improving on its ambience and involving women in the scheme of things: “If one looks critically at Lot 3, he will find out that the place is different from other Lots, there is no park, the premises is very unkempt and the women are not carried along but, in my administration, I will correct all these and also beef up security in the area.”
His Lot 2 counterpart, Mrs Patience Nwali said she would attract functional motor park and electricity installation in the Lot in appreciation of the massive support given to her by the people: “I will go extra mile to protect the interest of my people by interfacing with the State Board of Internal Revenue to ascertain the genuine revenues to be paid by the traders so that they would not be subjected to illegal and multiple taxations.”
Also, Uchenna Nwikwe who was elected Chairman of Lot 4, said they had visited the state governor, over the issue of multiple taxations in the market but were assured that the matter would be looked into.
Commissioner for Market Development and Parks, Prof Nwogo Obasi said the exercise recorded high level of success in Lots 2,3,4 and 5 while the election of Lot 1, was cancelled because of alleged irregularities: “In election, people will always complain though we discovered that some persons went and pirated the papers which we used in profiling the traders.
“Having discovered that, we equally doubled the screening and at the end, many of them were fished out.”
He said that a new date for the Lot 1 election would be announced later and appealed to the traders for calm.