All registered political parties and stakeholders in Anambra State have been urged to shelve their grievances and participate in the upcoming local government elections scheduled to take place in the State on the 28th of next month......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
The Chairman of a Citizens advocacy group, Anambra Civil Society Network (ACSONet), Prince Chris Azor, appealed in a chat with newsmen in Awka on Tuesday.
Anambra State faces an unpleasant exigency at this time due to a recent Supreme Court judgment, which may result in the state losing all revenue and resource accruals coming to her if it fails to have elected local government officials.
The State Independent Electoral Commission (ASIEC) had announced September 28, 2024, as the date for the conduct of local government council elections in the state, the first such is coming in over ten years.
However, many political parties and stakeholders have criticized the recent amendment of the State Electoral Act, which enabled the fixing of the elections urgently
However, Azor believes that although concerns raised about the insufficiency of time are not out of place, political parties and stakeholders must understand the circumstances the state faces at this time.
He implored Political Parties and other patriotic Stakeholders to obey and participate in the recently released timetable by Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC),
According to the CSO, participating in the entire process of the electoral process will lead to a democratically elected local government administration in the State.
“The forthcoming scheduled local government election is a welcome development.
“We must all recall the sustained advocacy by sundry Stakeholders that culminated in this present milestone.
“Political Parties and sundry stakeholders should realize that there’s no hundred percent perfect election anywhere in the world.
“I have always said that an imperfect election is better than no elections at all.
“Recall that a recent Supreme Court judgment ordered the State governments to stop receiving funds accruing to local governments.
“That declaration implies that States without democratically elected local government councils shall not receive allocations meant for local governments from the Federation Account.
“This, therefore, means that if a State government fails to conduct elections to establish democratically elected local government councils, it will forfeit the local government allocations from the Federation Account.
“With such, financial obligations of the State like, salaries and wages of primary school teachers, primary healthcare workers, local government staff, infrastructure/Capital expenditure, among others might pose a humongous challenge, going forward.
“The local councils have lost over ten years of democratic governance.
“We, therefore, appeal to the Political Parties to take advantage of this opportunity and take back our grassroots for sustainable development,”he said.
Comrade Azor also expressed the commitment of credible Civil Society Organizations in partnership with stakeholders to observe the electoral process to ensure the integrity and credibility of the entire exercise.