A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja issued an injunction last week prohibiting the federal government from sending money to the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo-led administration in Anambra State’s 21 local government councils.
Until the court hears the substantive Motion on Notice, the money must be deposited into an interest-bearing account overseen by the Chief Registrar of the FCT High Court, per the court’s order.
Additionally, the court ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, the anti-graft agency, to summon and question pertinent Anambra State Government officers about the use of funds received between March 22, 2022, and April 30, 2024, the dates of Soludo’s tenure as the state’s governor.
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“The EFCC is expected to file an affidavit of compliance, including the investigation report, within 30 days,” the court said.
Chukwuebuka Mmeni, Esq., an attorney, filed a lawsuit against the governor of Anambra State, which resulted to the order.
A week prior to the ruling, Soludo had sent out letters terminating the chairs of all local government council transition committees in the state, effective immediately.
Not long after Soludo took the oath of office as governor in April 2022, the dismissed chairmen took office under the title of Transition Committee Chairmen.
Just three months were planned for their stay, in order to prepare for the local government elections that the governor had vowed to hold in 2021, before he was elected.
In contrast, Soludo extended their employment seven times before they were sacked, with one renewal occurring every three months.
Many people who had been waiting impatiently for council elections took heart in the eventual dismissal of the chairmen; however, their optimism was short-lived as Soludo once more requested nominations from APGA leaders in different local government districts to take the chairmen’s place.
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This was made worse by the fact that Anambra does not have a State Independent Electoral Commission, which is required to conduct elections.
The representative for the Ogbaru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Afam Ogene, denounced any proposal to choose a new board of administrators in response to the state’s failure to hold elections.
“Records show that Governor Soludo changes LGA Transition Committee members every three months, and has therefore made these curious changes seven times since assumption of office in 2022,” stated Ogene, the leader of the Labour Party’s House of Representatives Caucus, in a news release. If he makes another modification of that nature this month, it will be his eighth in his two years in office.
“That to me, would be an inglorious record by a democratically elected governor. This puppeteering style of leadership, which toys with the destiny, aspiration and desires of the grassroots, must be resisted and not allowed to continue to shrink the development potential of the LGAs.
“The local government ought to be the most important tier of government, as envisaged by the Nigerian constitution, because it’s not only the tier that is closest to the people, it is also the obvious foundation of both the subnational and the federal government. And should not be at the whims of state governors.”
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“Such undemocratic practice of appointing LGA administrators, rather than democratic election, is an enabler of impunity and lack of democratic accountability and also hurts transparency in the local governments and the state as a whole, as those so appointed would only scramble for personal interests during the three months of their stay in office. This does not help the management of scarce resources or the development of the LGAs.
“What manner of meaningful development plan would a TC chairman articulate and execute within a period of three months? Isn’t it troubling that Governor Soludo, a prominent economist, is promoting this charade?
“What really is Governor Soludo afraid of in conducting elections in the LGAs, in line with his campaign promises and the desires of the people in the grassroots and provisions of the constitution?” The lawmaker queried.
However, a prominent member of the Labour Party in Anambra and a previous contender for governor, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, claimed that Soludo’s ongoing use of surrogates to manage the local government areas amounted to corruption.
Ozigbo charged Soludo with fraud for allegedly diverting money that accrued to the local government system from federal allocation to uphold his political organisation.
However, Prof. Soludo appears to be himself in a bind as he is forced to hold local government elections in Anambra as a result of the latest court ruling.
Recall that the administration led by Peter Obi held the most recent local government election in 2012, which was twelve years ago.
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There were no elected executives in the local government councils during the eight years that former Governor Willie Obiano was in office.
As was to be expected, Soludo utilised the prospect of holding local government elections as a ploy to persuade the Anambra people to support him for office.
Establishing a workable local government system in Anambra that will serve the interests of the local people as the government closest to them was one of his priorities, he had pledged during the electioneering in 2021.
Soludo reaffirmed the same pledge on March 17, 2022, during his inauguration.
He said: “We will conduct local government elections. No doubt, the uniform local government system as the third federating unit is one of the contesting features of our federalism, but we must make the best of a bad system by unleashing the potential of governance at a lower level.
“Within two years, we shall review, amend the relevant system, restructure and strengthen the Anambra State electoral system. We will cooperate and ensure synergy within the local government system, with elected officials.”
However, during a lavish celebration of his second anniversary as governor on March 17, 2024, at the International Convention Centre in Awka, Soludo listed a number of accomplishments but made no mention of how local government elections will be conducted or about his intention to do so.
There have been responses and optimism that he would be forced into conducting the polls as the court injunction prohibiting the transfer of local government election funding to him has stopped.
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Ozigbo while reacting to the order said: “While this news is not entirely cheerful, given that it involves funds due to the local government areas of Anambra, it is a welcome development.
“The corruption-laden use of appointed caretaker committees to manage the affairs of local governments has been consistently deemed illegal.
“It is unfortunate that Anambra’s Governor Chukwuma Soludo has continued this practice since his inauguration on March 17, 2022, despite promises to the contrary.
“The court documents highlight that N7,323,679,402.23 was allocated to the Anambra State Government in March 2024 for the benefit of the 21 LGAs. Over the past two years, approximately N175 billion may have accrued to these LGAs.
“Now, imagine the impact this substantial sum could have had on schools, healthcare institutions, markets, and the lives of the people in LGAs like Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Idemili South, and Ekwusigo, which have felt little to no government presence.
“Consider that this approximated N175 billion is not part of the state government’s allocation or the internally generated revenue in Anambra.
“Given the heightened insecurity that has plagued Anambra since this administration took office, continuing to remit these substantial funds without elected local government councils is counterproductive.
“I applaud Chukwuebuka Mmeni Esq., the applicant who sought this order from the FCT High Court, for taking this step to expose the Anambra State Government’s malfeasance.
“I also urge the Anambra State Government to avoid wasting resources on legal fees to overturn this order. The order clearly serves the interests of Ndi Anambra.
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“The illegality of the caretaker committees cannot be overstated, and no sophistry-cloaked legal argument can defend the indefensible.
“Our state would benefit more if the State Government redirected funds towards conducting genuine Local Government Elections. Should the Governor persist in contesting the order without conducting these elections, I advise my party, the Labour Party, to join the suit to ensure that the right thing is done,” Ozigbo stated.
Nonetheless, there are signs that Anambra local government elections are taking place.
A bill to establish the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission and for related purposes was swiftly passed by the Anambra State House of Assembly last week.
The governor submitted the bill.
The bill will lay the foundation for the executive branch to hold local government elections in Anambra State if the governor signs it.
The commission has not existed for more than ten years, and its employees have long since left the building, leaving its offices empty.
Speaking with Newsmen, Mr. Sly Ezeokenwa, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), refused to acknowledge that the governor was put in a difficult situation by initiating the local government election preparations.
He said: “The local government structure is an important tier of government and that is not in doubt.
“APGA government in Anambra State is deeply committed to conducting local government elections and there is no doubt about that.
“It is important to know that APGA has been vocal about the place of local government in the country, and being the government that is closest to the people, the local government structure should actually reflect the dictates, wishes and culture of the people.
“In Anambra, we have gone a step further to enhance the workability of the local government system.
“The governor is evolving a new model which is the private, public, community partnership model. We now have communities as the fourth tier of government, and it is a very essential component of the local government system.
“The communities have elected Presidents General, which is democracy on its own.
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“The current local government system where the governors have a chokehold on the local government system is cheap. What Soludo is trying to do is to enact local government and finance law that will necessarily devolve the individual functionalities and some components in the local government system, such that in each local government, you now have communities as an active part of the local government structure.
“Believe me, once the state house of assembly does this, Soludo will conduct local government elections.
“You also know that for now we do not have the state electoral commission, and you are aware that the governor has sent a bill to the House of Assembly for that to be constituted.
“So those are some of the obstacles that the governor is surmounting before the local government election will be done.”
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