Anambra LG Polls Not in Sight, Dogged by Litigation

By Ikeugonna Eleke

There is no indication that chairmen and councillors will be elected into the 21 local government areas in Anambra State before Governor Willie Obiano leaves office in March next year.

There have not been council polls in the state for seven years after the last one in January 2014.

The Anambra State commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba, told Fides in an interview that the conduct of the poll was being dogged by litigation, which is still pending at the Supreme Court.

‘Anambra cannot conduct elections now, the matter is still at the Supreme Court. 21 members of the APC (All Progressives Congress) representing the 21 local government areas in the state took the state to court over council poll.

‘The matter is still in the Supreme Court; that is why no election can be held into the local government areas for now.

‘The APC members are saying that they are the only ones validly nominated by their party, and, as such, other parties should be barred from participating, and you know that is not possible. They took the state government to court and won, and we have to appeal. The matter is currently in the Supreme Court,’ Adinuba stated.

Adinuba who said that currently, there was no electoral body in the state, wondered why people were so interested in local government elections in Anambra when the local government councils, were, according to him, doing well.

‘Is there any state that there have been elections that you can say are exactly doing better than Anambra?

‘As for those who are asking the president to suspend the allocation to local governments in the state because of non-conduct of elections, you begin to wonder how they reason.

‘The president has no such powers and the constitution does not empower him to do so. So why would a right thinking person be asking the president to withhold money accruing to his own state? It is ridiculous,’ Adinuba said.

When Fides enquired if the state had made any effort to get the litigants to settle with them out of court, Adinuba said he was not aware of such plans but insisted the council areas were doing well, even without election.