The employment of appointees by Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to operate the local government areas of the state has been referred to as “corruption” by Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, a prominent member of the Labour Party (LP) and previous candidate for governor.
Ozigbo was responding to a recent ruling from an Abuja court that barred the Federal Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation from sending any more money owed to the 21 Anambra State local government areas to the state government headed by Soludo.
Ozigbo declared that it is both unlawful and corrupt to appoint appointees to lead local government units in a post on his verified X handle.
Ozigbo said: “While this news is not entirely cheerful, given that it involves funds due to the local government areas of Anambra, it is a welcome development.
“The corruption-laden use of appointed caretaker committees to manage the affairs of local governments has been consistently deemed illegal.
“It is unfortunate that Anambra’s Governor Chukwuma Soludo has continued this practice since his inauguration on March 17, 2022, despite promises to the contrary.
“Over the past two years, approximately N175 billion may have accrued to these LGAs. Now, imagine the impact this substantial sum could have had on schools, healthcare institutions, markets, and the lives of the people in LGAs like Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Idemili South, and Ekwusigo, which have felt little to no government presence.
“Consider that this approximated N175 billion is not part of the State Government’s allocation or the internally generated revenue in Anambra.
“Given the heightened insecurity that has plagued Anambra since this administration took office, continuing to remit these substantial funds without elected local government councils is counterproductive.”
He praised Chukwuebuka Mmeni Esq. for taking action to reveal the wrongdoing of the Anambra State Government and for taking Soludo to court over the incident.
Additionally, he pleaded with the Anambra State Government to save money on legal bills rather than waste them trying to overturn the ruling, which plainly benefits the people of Anambra.
“The illegality of the caretaker committees cannot be overstated, and no sophistry-cloaked legal argument can defend the indefensible.
“Our state would benefit more if the state government redirected funds towards conducting genuine local government elections. Should the governor persist in contesting the order without conducting these elections, I advise my party, the Labour Party, to join the suit to ensure that the right thing is done.”
