Group Protests Gov Obiano’s Refusal To Conduct Council Polls In Anambra

A group, Recover Nigeria Project, has protested the alleged refusal of the governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, to conduct local government elections in the state. The group further gave the governor a five-month-ultimatum to conduct the elections or be dragged to court.

It made its position known in a letter to Gov Obiano, dated 16 September, 2020 and signed by Mr Osita Obi, convener of the group, and three others. Mr Obi, who addressed some stakeholders at the headquarters of Awka South Local Government Area, said the governor’s refusal to conduct council polls for almost seven years was ‘a criminal denial of the citizens’ political right’.

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According to him, his group was collaborating with other aggrieved groups, including the Great Tippers Drivers Association of Nigeria, Anambra State chapter; and the Association of Councillors of Anambra State.

In his words, “If elections were held in the local government areas, it will create jobs, reduce insecurity and serve as the breeding ground for good politicians. I appeal to the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Nigeria Union of Local Employees, NULGE, in the state to join forces in this struggle. We also advocate total autonomy of the local government tier in the country.”

The state chairman of the Great Tippers Association, Chief Ebuka Davies, and that of the Anambra State Councillors Association, Mr Godson Nnuriam, stated that it was a breach of the people’s rights by not conducting council polls.

Meanwhile, the commissioner for information and public enlightenment in the state, C Don Adinuba, in a release made available to THE WHISTLER in Awka, Thursday, warned the public of plans by some tipper drivers in the state to embark on politically motivated protests, including blocking major roads and streets, in their efforts for an immediate election into local governments in the state.

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According to the release, the drivers were being manipulated by ‘a desperate politician who cannot wait for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to lift the ban on the electioneering campaign for the office of the governor of the state which will hold in November 2021’. The statement added that ‘the politician seems too ignorant and desperate to know that the question of an election into local governments in the state is sub judice, as it is before the Supreme Court of Nigeria’.

While urging the residents to remain law-abiding, the commissioner stated that security agencies in the state had been directed to checkmate any untoward actions capable of disturbing the public peace in the state.

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