By CHARLES IWUOHA

Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, has said that the insecurity currently pervading Ebonyi State was occasioned by unemployment and lack of interferences of government in the affairs of local communities.

Odii spoke Friday through his Deputy Governorship candidate, Senator Paulinus Igwe Nwagu, during a debate organised for governorship candidates of different political parties in Ebonyi State by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Abakaliki.

He said that until the state government hands-off local administration to the local people, conflicts and communal crises would remain unabated.

He said: “Unemployment, government interferences in the affairs of local communities is one of the major causes of insecurity.

“If you look at what is happening today, we have several communal crises in Ikwo and Izzi people, Abaomege and Ishinkwo, Ezza and Effium people, Ngbo and Igala, Edda and Amasiri, etc.”

The PDP governorship candidate said that uniting the peoples of Ebonyi State would be a paramount policy of his government as there cannot be any development if there is no peace.

He promised that his government will ensure that the local government and local communities in the state would be granted their deserved autonomy.

“Our government will not have any interference with local politics.

“The government should not have interest in electing leaders of local communities, in communities you allow the people to elect their Town Union Presidents, Allow people to elect their traditional rulers; allow people to elect whosoever will be their councilor.

“Councilor is one of the most important representative of the people, my grandmother at home does not know who is the Chairman of the local government.

“Allow the government to go back to the people, by giving autonomy to the local government, it is very key.

“If you give autonomy to the local government and monitor them, they will do wonderfully well,” he reiterated.

Dr. Odii in all his campaign rallies has maintained that the various communal clashes and criminalities pervading most communities in Ebonyi State were caused because the government usurped the powers and values of local communities.