TRACKING_______Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to stop any further act of appointing Transition Committee Chairmen for the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.
APC went further to urge the governor to ensure that elections were held for the positions of chairmen and councilors within three months, stressing that it would help the development of the state to have responsible council chairmen who were answerable to the people.
In a statement made available to newsmen by the Abia APC Publicity Secretary, Comrade Benedict Godson, the party described the current method of appointing Council Chairmen as channel of syphoning funds meant for development.
Godson stated that every local government in the state was capable of taking care of its needs including payment of workers’ salaries as when due if only the state government would stop interfering in the allocation of the local government.
“Almost all the problems we’re having today from economy to security can be linked to ineffective local government administration. As a party, we’ve thought about it, as Abians we’ve had enough of it and as Nigerian we deem it expedient to call on the Abia State Government to as a matter of necessity, organize a local government election within three months for us to elect our chairmen and councilors.
“This call has become urgently important because we can no longer watch our dear state wallow in the wilderness of underdevelopment while other parts of this country are sitting right inside the paradise of democracy.
“Let nobody get this twisted, LGA election will benefit everyone. It’s a one party affair. Almost everybody will be happy for it. This is an Abia affair and we must face it squarely.
“Who says Arochukwu LGA cannot take care of themselves with their allocation? Who says Ukwa East and Ukwa West cannot grade and reconstruct dilapidated roads scattered all over the two LGAs?
“Who is that person that will say that Isuikwuato, Umunneochi and Bende LGAs cannot organize good natural/ local techniques of managing and controlling the deadly gully erosion threatening them?
“Who says Aba South, Aba North, Umuahia South and Umuahia North with their huge allocations and business premises around cannot handle the unhygienic conditions of our two urban cities better?
“As the third tier of government in Nigeria, the local government is often paid scant attention by political pundits and media which has allowed some persons to use it as a channel for compensating political loyalists.”
