Some traders from Onitsha Electronics market on Tuesday accused the commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Christian Madubuko, of creating confusion in the market by planting 'unpopular' leadership on them.

The traders who took to the Government House to protest alleged government's leadership imposition on markets in the state claimed that the commissioner had few months ago dissolved the sitting leadership of the market headed by one Izuchukwu, and created a caretaker committee to oversee the activities of the traders in the market.

According to the traders who were led by Simon Okonkwo, the caretaker committee only lasted for a while as the sacked leadership was recalled without any explanation to the traders.

They said: “The commissioner is causing confusion in the market. We can’t understand why somebody can be talking from two sides of his mouth.

“This commissioner came to the market and instituted a caretaker committee to oversee the market.

“But shortly, he came back and dissolved the caretaker committee without any explanation to us.

“The next thing we heard was that he had reinstated the former leadership in place before the caretaker committee was set up and asked them to start organising election for Saturday.”

The traders, while describing the action as arbitrary, said they cannot stomach it, adding that they stormed the government House to inform the governor of the development and for him to call his commissioner to order.

“We are going to resist this imposition.

“We started suspecting the commissioner’s move when he changed the venue of the election to another local government area without any reason.”

Reacting to the accusation, the commissioner maintained that some of the market leaders were fraudsters saying that the state government had lost millions of naira to corrupt revenue collectors in the market.

He explained that the traders had engaged in printing and issuing of fake receipts to unsuspecting members of the public.

His words: “One of the market leaders had defrauded the state government up to the tune of N110m.

“I have asked the Department of State Services to arrest the culprit anywhere they would sight him.”

He noted that unless adequate measure is taken to quell the ugly trend through jail, it will not stop saying that he has kicked off the process.

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