By the grace of God and with the prevailing situation now surrounding Local Government funding and Financial Allocation, Imo State will be electing Twenty-Seven (27) Executive Chairmen in the Twenty-Seven Local Government Areas of the State. This is happening seven years after a former Governor of the State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, conducted a sham Local Government election just months before leaving office after spending two terms of eight years in governorship. The only time Imo citizens witnessed real Council Elections were during the eras of Governor Achike Udenwa between 1999 to 2007 and Governor Ikedi Ohakim from 2007 to 2011.
Udenwa spent eight years in office. During that period, his administration oversaw two Local Government elections. The term of each LGA Chairman was three years as promulgated by the Imo State House of Assembly. Udenwa held regular and periodic Council Elections in each election season within every four years in his eight-year tenure. Those elections were not an exclusive right of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because other political parties not only won Councillorship seats but also Chairmanship positions. These elections were conducted by the Imo State Electoral Body appointed by then-Sitting Governor Udenwa.
In the four years of Ohakim as Governor, he also held a Council election and would have done a second one if he had been reelected into office. Since these administrations left, Imo LGAs have been administered by handpicked people at the whims and caprices of the Governors. This involves pushing these appointees down the throats of the communities, whether they like them or not and whether they are performing their duties excellently or not. Only the Governor determines the assignments such people are detailed to carry out in the Council Areas without input from the LGA’s Stakeholders. This is against the tenets of the Nigerian Constitution, which stipulates that Nigeria should operate a three-tier Government: namely LGA, State, and Federal.
Unfortunately, while the Federal Government is the Big Brother in Abuja, sharing the booty with all the States every month while keeping the largest chunk, the States pocket that of the LGAs and rather “dash” a little sum to them and hold back the major largesse. Some prominent Nigerians, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), and a few State Legislatures have cried out, asking the States to take what belongs to them and allow the LGAs to manage theirs to no avail. Instead, the State Governors have continued to apply every trick in the book to sit on LGA funds, including through intimidations and lobbying to stop any situation that will warrant the LGA funds reaching their proper destination: the Seven Hundred and Seventy-Four (774) Council Area headquarters across Nigeria.
Fortunately, whatever has a beginning must end one day. Even the impunity of the Leaders against the Led today will definitely be history someday. Therefore, on Thursday, January 11, 2024, the Supreme Court of Nigeria entered the history books by boldly affirming that every Kobo meant for the LGAs should now go to their accounts straight and no more the old system of joint accounts with the States. What this means is that what goes to Imo State as allocation would go to her own account directly, while Orlu LGA, for instance, gets its own alert separately. With this, each LGA in the Federation now has Financial Autonomy and the authority to receive its own funds, prioritize its needs, face its challenges and peculiarities, and deal with them in its own way.
While the majority of citizens are jubilant over the good omen, the Governors are piqued. They have always stood against Local Government Autonomy. Not for altruistic reasons but for personal aggrandizement because they fiddle with Council Funds at will while the real owners, the people at the grassroots, swim in deprivation. Luckily, this Supreme Court order came from the Highest Court in the Land and cannot be appealed. Therefore, the landmark pronouncement has come to stay and is sacrosanct. Only God knows why Governors elected for a renewable four years in office would kick against a perpetual law that will benefit even those yet unborn. The seat of Governor is not permanent and not hereditary. Laws are made for the good of the majority and entire populace and not for a few privileged individuals occupying temporary public offices.
In all this, Imo State should count herself lucky as she is already preparing for a Local Government election. The judgment warned that only LGAs with Elected Council Chairmen will receive allocations henceforth. Imo can tarry for only two months without Council Allocations since the election is coming in September. With the current scenario, the Imo LGA election will assume more seriousness as more mature and grounded personalities will join both the Chairmanship and Councillorship races. The humongous amounts that will hit the Councils now are no more for the ‘Boys” as “Men” will show interest. This “Abuja Earthquake” will rebrand the LGAs, making them viable and appealing. This development will improve the caliber of personnel that will jostle for Council positions. This will spearhead developments in the hinterlands.
Imo would benefit if it conducts a more robust and level-ground election where other political parties are given space to compete. This would lead to producing the best among the best within the contending parties, and Imo State will be the major beneficiary. However, indications are that major opposition parties like PDP, APGA, and Labour Party have not shown enthusiasm in the exercise billed for Saturday, September 21, 2024. The apprehension is that the Sitting Government may use its power to muzzle all the seats, making it needless to waste energy and funds. However, Udenwa conducted an election here where All Peoples APP/All Nigerians Peoples Party ANPP, the main opposition party then, won Chairmanship and Councillorship seats across the State. This was in Imo State controlled by PDP.
Local Governments in Imo have remained the grooming ground for future great leaders. It has also led Imo to produce high-profile personnel for the State and Nigeria in general. It is on record that the Udenwa and Ohakim Administrations touched Imo hinterlands like no other because of Local Government Administration. The short-lived Emeka Ihedioha administration also toed the same line and was able to make an impact in the rural areas. Developments in the LGAs are the aggregation of what you see in a State. LGA development is the sum total of a State. Imo Local Government Administrations gave us Bar Emma Ibediro (Onuimo) former National Organizing Secretary APC, Hon Gerald Irona (Oguta) former MHR and later DGov, Dr. Uche Diogu (Isu) Fed Commissioner, Chief Emma Nworgu (Ngor Okpala) Fed Commissioner, NPC, Bar Victor Muruakor (Ow West) now Chairman Fiscal Commission, Mrs. Rubi Emele (Isiala Mbano) now Commissioner, Bar Enyinna Onuegbu (Ngor Okpala) Ex-Commissioner/SA, Hon Nwabueze Ogushienti (Oru West) today a Commissioner, Hon Ikenna Elezieanya (Ow West) former MHR/now Commissioner, Rt Hon Acho Ihim (Okigwe) former Speaker IMHA, and many others.
Uzodimma should commence his departure legacy by giving Imo an undiluted, unbiased Council Election. Imo people are watching.
By Henry Ekpe (08036695810)
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