Tension in Anambra as Gov. Soludo’ sacks all LG caretaker chairmen

By Cyprian Ebele, Onitsha

There is palpable fears and tension in Anambra state as Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has reportedly sacked all Local Government Area Caretaker Committee Chairmen with effect from tomorrow, Monday.

Consequently, he has directed the council chairmen to hand over the affairs of the councils to the Heads of Local Government Administrations (HLGAs).

The sack of the council chairmen was contained in a letter signed by the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Collins Nwabunwanne, dated May 17, 2024.

The letter read thus: “Following the expiration of your tenure as Transition Committee Chairman, you are hereby directed to handover the affairs of your Local Government Council to the Head of Local Government Administration (HLGA), in your respective Local Government Councils.

“This directive takes effect from Monday, 20th day of May, 2024. Thank you for your service to the state. “All replies to be addressed to the Honourable Commissioner.”

It was gathered that there were expectations that Soludo would conduct local government election in the state, based on the public outcry.

Recall that the governor had last week directed that party stakeholders should nominate candidates in their local government areas for transition committees insisting that out of the three, one must be a woman from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) stakeholders.

The message was conveyed to all the transition committee chairmen by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Dr. Alex Obiogbolu.

According to the directive, “The party stakeholders in each Local Government are expected to meet on May 18th or 19th 2024, to consider and recommend for his consideration, three persons for the position of TC Chairman and three persons for Local Government Education Secretaries.

“The three recommendations for Transition Committee Chairmen shall include at least one woman; while the three recommendations for Education Secretary shall be two women and one man.”

“Anambra state is one of the states in the country where transition committee had become a norm. The last local government election was held by the former governor, Peter Obi, few weeks before the expiration of his second tenure.

The Nations News Nigeria reports that the opposition parties and major stakeholders had been calling for elections into the local government system, arguing that state governors had stifled local government system through transition committee chairmen.