The Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has called for the resignation of the state governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, for failing to local government elections more than a year since assuming office.
In a statement signed by the state Publicity Secretary, Okelo Madukaife, the party urged the Federal Government to appoint a “caretaker” governor for the state.
Okelo argued that since the return of democracy to the country in 1999, Anambra State had only organised only two local government elections during the early days of the late Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju administration and towards the end of Peter Obi’s administration in 2014.
He urged Anambra people and the general public to tackle the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, on the Anambra State local governments elections.
“Evasion of issues will not cure the angst and disappointment of Ndi Anambra over the inability of the government of the day to hold local government elections, within six months as was promised in their campaign during the Anambra governorship elections in 2021,” Okelo said in the statement.
“On the contrary, APC promised to hold the APGA government, which seems to have lost initiative so soon to account and are doing so.”
He dismissed a statement by the state chairman of APGA, Mr. Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, who in a recent interview blamed a “litany of litigations” for hindering the conduct of LG elections in the state.
“For the second time in one week, APGA chairman, Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, has failed to mention the particular suit which he claims APC has in court that has stopped the government controlled by his party from holding LG elections and no one seemed to have returned him to the brass tacks.
“He failed to allude to the fact that Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission is paying workers who do nothing and has also failed to acknowledge that as of today, ANSIEC has no board, which has a serious duty in election planning and execution.
“On one hand, Obi-Okoye cites an apex court judgment that, according to him, empowers Anambra State Government to appoint caretaker committees while on the other, he says the case is pending and no one has taken him up for the glaring contradiction.
“Interestingly, this is coming from a party who ignored specific court orders to hold its conversation without worrying about the implications, only to invoke uncited and unreferenced cases stopping LG elections.
“We are interested in saving Anambra LGs from the state government and allowing our people feel the impact of government at the grassroots rather than being treated to vocabularies from Awka. APGA can only tell a blind man that there is no oil in the soup, not that there is no salt.
“Anambra State citizens and residents are well advised to demand for 21 elected local governments that will be accountable to them and not to be schooled on dictations that seek impossible legitimacy through legality.
“Henceforth, the recognisable steps to register our non-recognition of those stooges from one party will become clearer.
“If Soludo insists on defending lack of democratic governments in Anambra LGs directly or in proxy, a full year after the time he gave to hold elections has passed, he should resign as governor to enable President Bola Tinubu appoint a Caretaker governor for Anambra State and later find a legal justification for it.”
