To ensure effective take-off of his administration after the 2007 election that saw him emerge as Governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim found it expedient for the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, on which platform he was elected, to enter into negotiations with its strongest rival, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The outcome was a coalition government, with PPA as the senior partner. Ohakim’s decision to invite PDP was based on the fact that the party won a majority of the state House of Assembly seats and, no doubt, would have easily produced the governor but for the disowning of its candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, a matter that is yet to be decided at the appeals tribunal.
The coalition was working perfectly, until the recent dissolution of the Transition Committee of Local Government Chairmen and Councilors. The problem the dissolution has spawn is two-fold: which political party would occupy a majority of the positions at the third tier of government, and on which parameters would sole administrators be appointed.
On Thursday 15 July, the Governor met with some leaders of both parties at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Owerri, where it was agreed that a committee should be constituted in each council area, in which the selected leaders in attendance at the meeting would serve as automatic members. Subsequently, each of the 27 council areas of the state was mandated to nominate three names, from which the Governor would appoint a sole administrator, pending when the council polls would be conducted.
However, a gale of controversy has accompanied the lists submitted to the Governor. For example, Chuma Nnaji, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, was accused by his people of Njaba Local Government Area of replacing those recommended for the job from the area with his political acolytes and loyalists. A letter to the governor by the Njaba leaders caucus, dated 18 July, and endorsed by 32 protesters, said the list is “fake and does not reflect the true wishes of our leaders”.
Inside sources across the state say the same situation applies in every local government area. Further investigations revealed that many PDP stalwarts have been excluded under the guise that they are Senator Ifeanyi Araraume’s boys.
But Nnaji told Across Nigeria that most of those complaining were agents of frustrated political godfathers desperate to install their puppets in order to continue feeding fat from the councils’ monthly allocations.
Asked why the local government election has not been conducted, Nnaji said the delay was not caused by the current administration; rather, it was to enable the state legislature amend some ambiguous sections of the Local Government Electoral Law. Moreover, he added, the Imo State Electoral Commission, ISEC, is expected to provide an enabling environment for a free and fair election.
But some political analysts believe the whole delay has been contrived by Governor Ohakim to ensure the PPA gets a firmer hold on the third tier of government.
– Reported by GEORGE OPARA.
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