By Our Correspondent
Market elders in Anambra State have urged Governor Chukwuma Soludo to commence the process of conducting elections in markets still being run by caretaker committees.
The elders, under the aegis of the Anambra State Markets Elders Forum (ASMEF), said most of the caretaker committees had remained in office for more than four years and had overstayed their welcome.
In a statement issued in Onitsha at the weekend, ASMEF argued that allowing traders to freely elect their leaders would bring fresh ideas, accountability and peaceful coexistence to the markets.
The President-General of the forum, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, said the call was in line with the democratic principles upon which Soludo was elected governor and the recent election of local government chairmen in the state.
He urged the governor to extend the same democratic process to the markets, beginning with the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA), the umbrella body for market associations across the state.
“ASMEF is calling on Soludo to commence the process of organising elections in all the markets that still have caretaker appointees in the state, including ASMATA itself, because all the existing caretaker committees have overstayed their tenure and are now bereft of quality ideas to keep on leading their various markets,” the statement said.
The elders maintained that fresh elections would inject new ideas and leadership into the markets, insisting that traders should be given the opportunity to choose those who would represent their interests.
“Election of leaders in the markets will no doubt inject fresh ideas as against the incumbent caretaker committees which have exhausted their ideas.
“Let the recent local government chairmanship election be extended to the whole markets in the state, starting from ASMATA,” ASMEF said.
