A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Wednesday carpeted Governors Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, for their persistent failure to conduct local government elections in the two states, describing them as enemies of democracy.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, said both governors have perfected the act of handpicking their “boys” for the job to man the local government area councils in their respective states.

The group said the actions of Soludo and Uzodimma contravene Section 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution which states that local governments must be run by democratically elected local government councils.

HURIWA therefore tasked the Houses of Assembly in both states to stop the illegal act of confirming transition committee chairmen appointed by the Governors and defend democracy as they ought to, as the legislative arm, by demanding the conduct of fresh local government elections to produce the people’s choices in the local governments in both states.

Soludo, who assumed office on March 17, 2022, inaugurated 21 Transition Committee Chairmen he appointed and they were confirmed by the Anambra State House of Assembly in August.

Soludo is walking the illegal path of his immediate predecessor, Governor Willie Obiano, who operated by the Local Government Transition Committee and never conducted any local government election for eight years as Governor. In fact, the last local government election in Anambra was in 2014 conducted by Obiano’s predecessor, Peter Obi.

Similarly, after being sworn in in January 2020 following the Supreme Court verdict, Uzodimma sacked all the members of the Interim Management Committees in the 27 councils of the state constituted by the ousted governor, Emeka Ihedioha. Ihedioha had suspended the chairmen produced in an election conducted in 2018, by the Rochas Okorocha administration.

Uzodimma had promised, on assumption of office, to conduct fresh local government elections but he has failed to do so, about three years after.

Onwubiko, in his statement, maintained that, “Governors Uzodimma and Soludo's action of handpicking boys to man the local government area councils rather than organise elections to allow the grassroots elect their own local council governments shows that they aren’t true democrats but pretenders and turncoat democrats.”

He added: “Any governor not allowing the constitutional mode of electing Council officials are enemies of democracy.

“Governors Uzodimma and Soludo must immediately organise elections for local government areas to allow for rapid development and for the participation of the people at the grassroots in the governance of their affairs. The two governors should stop fighting Peter Obi and rather focus on delivering the true dividends of democracy to their people in Anambra and Imo. That is what is of most essence not petty brawls.”

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