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Enugu APC opposes administration of councils with un-elected officials

By Lawrence Njoku Enugu
13 January 2016   |   1:03 am
THE Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has opposed the handing over to and running of local government councils in the state by heads of personnel management. The party said yesterday that such action negated the spirit and letters of section 7 of the 1999 constitution and that of true democracy which…

Enugu State goveror, Ugwuanyi

THE Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has opposed the handing over to and running of local government councils in the state by heads of personnel management.

The party said yesterday that such action negated the spirit and letters of section 7 of the 1999 constitution and that of true democracy which guarantees administration of local governments with elected executives.

APC in the statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Kate Offor therefore called on the State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to comply with the constitution and section 34 of the provisions of local government law of Enugu state.

Although it commended the governor for the dissolution of the elected council chairmen and Councilors at the expiration of their tenure on
January 4, this year, the party noted that asking the heads of personnel management to take over in each council was “glass half full”

The party added: “Accordingly, the dissolution is not in the spirit and letters of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that of true democracy which clearly guarantees the administration of the local government by a democratically elected local government council. The words of Abraham Lincoln, that ‘No man is good enough to govern another, without the others consent,’ is apposite and instructive in this regard

“Therefore, we challenge Governor Ugwuanyi to forthwith comply with the Constitution and Section 34 of the Provisions of the Local Government Law of Enugu state, CAP 109, Revised Laws of Enugu State
2004 (as amended); and sincerely hope he would jettison Sections 11, 12 and 17 of the said Local Government Council law of the House of Assembly, which abinitio is at variance with 1999 Constitution and hence invalid, because it allowed the governor to appoint the obnoxious Caretaker Committee.”

APC further said that her candidates had been ready for the election, adding that though the statutory period provided for the election had elapsed, stressing however that it was not late for the governor to direct ENSIEC to retrace its step from the part of wrong-doing, desist from further illegality and unconstitutionality by appointing a date for the said election.

It assured the governor that should a date be fixed for the election, “we shall prevail on our members who are in court in suit No. E/362/2015:APC and Others v Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), pending before Hon. Justice R.O. Odugu of High 6 Enugu to withdraw the said suit to show good faith on our part. Failure of which we submit that no amount of carrot of antics and manipulation of top APC members will stop the suit”

It insisted that the plot to appoint caretaker committees for the seventeen Local Government councils whose tenure as the elected chairmen expired was wrong and called on the governor to avoid breaching the Constitution which he “swore to defend and protect, on the pretext of lack of money or reference to states where democracy is being mangled.”

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