Gov Obiano plans to impose LG caretaker c’tees in Anambra

A group, Voters Rights International (VRI), has cautioned the Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano against constitut­ing caretaker committees for the 21 local government areas in the state at the expiration of the ten­ure of the current elected chairmen and councillors in January next year.

The group threatened to drag the governor and all his agents to court, should caretaker committees come on board at the third tier of government, insisting that elections must hold in the councils for the people to choose their leaders.

In a letter it wrote to Obiano, the group's President, Mr Jezie Ekejiuba, alleged that the body language of the governor and "information available to me indicates that the government of Anambra State is planning to appoint Local Government Transition or Caretaker Committees when the current officials who were elected on January 11, 2014 expires on January 11, 2016 after a two year tenure."

Ekejiuba had in a let­ter written to Governor Obiano, the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon Rita Maduagwu and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Anali Chude, titled: "Legal warning against appointing local government transition or caretaker committees in Anambra State subject matter of pending appeal", insisted that elections must hold in the councils.

The rights activist has also instituted a suit on the matter.
Ekejiuba said: "I write this letter in my personal capacity as the appellant to you in your respective official capacity as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents in a pending appeal No. CA/E/437/2012 Jezie Ekejiuba vs Governor of Anambra State and 2 Ors, which will come up on February 24, 2016 at the Court of Appeal, Enugu for hearing specifically for adoption of the appellant and respondents briefs. This letter also serves as a hearing notice.

"The outgoing elected local governments came in after 11 years of caretaker committees at the third-tier of government which precipitated the filing of the above suit on appeal.

"Stringent calls by well meaning people of the Anambra State government to empower and direct the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) to prepare and conduct local government election to usher in new chairmen and councillors to take over from the out going elected local governments have fallen on deaf ears due to the politically motivated ulterior motives to truncate the rule of law and trample on the civil rights of the voters.

"The body language of the state government and ANSIEC in this regard can be judged in the light of the fact that only 50 days remains for the aforesaid two-year mandate of the current elected local gov­ernments to expire. By operation of the law, 90 days' notice of election is required in the Electoral Law for any election to be valid.

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