The legal battle between the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the outcome of March 18 Governorship election in Enugu state is now taking shape as the Election Petitions Tribunal holden at Enugu is set to commence full trial on Friday, 7th July, 2023.

Daily Gazette recalls that Barr. Peter Mba, the candidate of the PDP was announced winner of the keenly contested election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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The former Enugu Finance commissioner polled a total of 160, 895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP) who garnard 157, 552 votes

Barr. Edeoga and Labour Party rejected the results announced by INEC claiming that the election was fraught with violence, massive rigging, substantial non compliance with the electoral act, computational errors among others.

Edeoga had in an interview said that apart from reclaiming the mandate from those who undertook the electoral heist, the election was not a reflection of the will of Ndi Enugu.

Having exchanged and adopted all the briefs during the Pre-hearing sessions, the Tribunal is now ready for proper HEARING of the petitions before her.

Currently, political bigwigs in the country are lobbying for ministerial appointments from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

A group under the aiges of the Southeast Progressives Caucus Forum (SPCF) is appealing to the President to consider an illustrious son of the zone, Senator Ayogu Eze as a member of his cabinet.

Led by it’s national chairman, Dr. Wilfred Igwe, the group also said that the choice of Senator Eze will complement the development stride of the present administration based on his track record and also as a good party man.

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According to Dr. Igwe, Nigerians can only breathe easily when those who understand sectors are assigned to manage them at all levels of governance including boards and agencies.

He said for Nigeria to move to the next level in terms of security and sufficiency of food, real players and practitioners must be engaged to solve challenges and make progress.

The group described President Tinubu as a man who knows exactly what to do and will surely appoint the right persons into the right ministerial positions.

The unveiling of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial list is unarguably one of the most keenly awaited developments in the country, not only by Nigerians at home, but in the diaspora.

The abysmal performance of Enugu local council chairmen in the almost two years of their administration is leaving a sour taste in the mouth.

As the third tier of government, the local government councils are the first and most tangible contact with government and indeed democracy that the people have, hence the need for the chairmen to deliberately pursue the implementation of programmes, projects and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people, a feature completely lacking in the present crop of chairmen in the state.

Almost two years down the line, it has become evident that the chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors have lived below expectations as clearly seen in their poor performance, misappropriation of funds as well as embarking on projects that have little or no value on the electorate leaving them to the mercies of God for survival and a total collapse of the local government system.

The desperation of some of the chairmen to get second terms in office has also led to massive embezzlement of public funds meant for developmental projects. This leaves one to wonder how a business man will continue in a business that does not fetch him profit.

Ndi Enugu are yet to see visible projects embarked-on, by these set of chairmen.

The set of activities that fall within the purview of local go councils are the building blocks of all indices of good governance, economic growth and human development. According to the 1999 constitution, local councils are responsible for primary, adult and vocational education, health services, agriculture and natural resource development.

More importantly, the local council is the level of government that is most accessible and can be most accountable to the citizens. Poor villagers who cannot afford the cost of transportation to state capital, can walk to their local councils to make their voices heard and demand accountability for service provisions.

No doubt, local government areas are treated as cash cows by state governors and political party ‘kingmakers’ rather than development centers that they are designed to be.

Local council chairmen are typically nominated by the state governor through the state’s electoral body, and supported financially by kingmakers who expect to be paid back.

This gives room for resource leakages and other forms of abuse of public treasury in the sense that funds meant for basic services are diverted for personal uses.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno has warned Chairmanship and Councillorship aspirants for the next local government election against wasting their money in consultations.

Addressing outgoing local government Chairmen in Uyo over the weekend, Governor Eno noted that it was too early to engage in consultations.

He also warned the council chairmen to ensure they put modalities in place to maintain peace in their respective domains saying as any local government area that compromised the existing peace in the State the Council Chairman would be held responsible.

He expressed concern that security reports have revealed that some Council Chairmen were sponsoring the agitation over the state’s Map law, and appealed to the people to remain peaceful as the matter was still pending in Court.

“Let me inform you that some people have started consultations for Chairmanship and Councilorship positions, please don’t spend your money. I will not compensate anybody or association for engaging in consultation for such positions.

“Please I have not sent you to waste your money on consultations. Wait untill we blow the whistle for Local Government elections. We are trying to ensure that Government takes shape and we are doing the best we can.

Gov. Eno

“Please note, if zoning does not favour you, don’t even worry yourself because no amount of pressure can make me go against the party zoning arrangements. It is also a privilege to meet all the Local Government Chairmen here.

“We are planning to have a meeting with you. Soon, you will hear from me. We need to talk. We need to discuss, actually about keeping your Local Governments safe and secured.

“We need to work together and extra hard to ensure that we stay in peace. And let me use this occasion to plead with all the Chairmen, please hold down your Local Government Areas. We don’t want to have issues anywhere.

“There has been so much tension about mapping or remapping. I have said on many occasions, I know that some LG have gone to court. Naturally, when a case is in court you rest and maintain peace until it is determined. Nobody is coming to take your land or anything.

“We’ll wait for all the fireworks to be done in court. So, there is no need whatsoever for anyone to encourage crisis. We have security reports that some Local Government Chairmen are encouraging and trying to hide behind and sponsor agitations.

“Once that happens we will invoke the full weight of the law on the culprits. This is not a threat. As a Chairman of the Local Government, we will hold you responsible for any breakdown of law and order in your domain. Let peace reign”

Governor Eno reassured that his administration would deliver democratic dividends to the rural communities, adding that there was need for everyone to show they could live beyond their barriers and biases as well as above ethnicity.

He noted that a time comes when people must come together and seek peace and growth of their land, stressing, ” So coming together like this avails us the opportunity to come together, rejoice together, talk to each other about things that will bring development to our state.

“We have made up our minds- myself, my Deputy and the Speaker to work very closely together with each other, and to ensure that we deliver dividends of democracy to our people. It doesn’t matter where the people stand. What we are interested in is our people receiving dividends of democracy especially in the rural areas.

Hon. Chimaobi Atu, a member of the federal House of Representatives for Enugu North/South Constituency while speaking with Daily Gazette correspondent over the weekend, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently employ all legitimate and innovative means to restore the country’s battered economy and curb insecurity.

The lawmaker said that the challenges facing Nigerians are not new, but must be conquered.

“Now is the time to roll our sleeves and get the job done. Top on my legislative agenda is to give my people a voice in the 10th Assembly through quality representation. I shall work closely with the new House Leadership to achieve this. Expectedly, the composition of the 10th Assembly suggests that there will be extremely robust legislative engagements and I will be ready. My colleagues in the Labour Party and I, are willing to engage in a bipartisan process that will serve our people and the entire country. I will work with my esteemed colleagues in the Green Chamber to sponsor quality bills and issue-based motions. As someone who toured the entire 26 wards in my constituency during the campaign, I know what the issues are. We have developed a dynamic feedback mechanism to engineer effective communication among our people.”

President Tinubu

On his agenda for his constituents, Atu said “I concluded arrangements in our constituency office where everyone can channel his or her suggestions and challenges. Those who have followed me on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms will attest to the fact that we have been very active online. As I promised during the campaign, I will hold quarterly Town Hall Meetings in Enugu North and South. This meeting will enable me to know where my people want to go and not where I think they should go.

“Agriculture is one critical sector that will gulp my attention in the House. As the world gradually moves away from fossil fuel, agriculture and technology must be given all the backing they deserve. We shall sponsor bills and motions that will ensure that agriculture and technology take their place in our economy. We shall attract federal government intervention projects in these two areas to our Constituency. I shall partner with the Federal government to complete the Amaechi Awkunana multipurpose dam and rural water supply scheme in Enugu South. This will help agricultural activities and support Enugu State government’s efforts in providing water for the citizens. Two weeks ago, I visited a building where the first Tech Hub will be sited in Enugu South LGA. The tech hub will improve the tech skills of young people and expand opportunities for them in the areas of web design, artificial intelligence, coding and social media marketing. Next week, I will conclude arrangements on where to site the second tech hub in Enugu North. We are already speaking with our friends in the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy on this issue.

Hon. Chimaobi Atu

“Apart from agriculture and technology, young people in my Constituency will be trained in small-scale businesses and other skills. They will be given start-up funding to establish businesses. Make no mistakes, there will be scientific methods to monitor this process and ensure their speedy growth. Education is also my top priority. Without education, this nation is doomed. Therefore, my colleagues and I, will vote overwhelmingly for an increased education budget. With the removal of subsidy, the Federal Government is expected to channel resources to education, health, economy, security and other critical areas”.