Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial district, Ifeanyi Ubah has condemned the refusal of past and current administrations of the state to conduct local government elections in the state in the last 18 years.
Ubah a Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stated this during Wednesday’s plenary making his contributions to a motion sponsored by Senator Kawu, Suleiman Abdulrahman (Kano South) which called on President Bola Tinubu to revive the local government system.
Ubah lamented that Anambra State has not conducted local government elections in the last 18 years.
Profering solutions he asserted that the non-implementation of the 1999 framework has become a major impediment to the independence of the Nation’s third tier.
The Anambra Lawmaker called for full autonomy to be granted to the local governments in the country to curb insecurity, rural-urban migration, decaying infrastructure, and widespread unemployment.
He said; “If we want to promote good governance in this country, we need to look at section 7 of the 1999 constitutional framework so we can start having value for democracy in our respective states.
“In a state like Anambra has not conducted elections in the last 18 years. When you look at the decadence of governance, poor infrastructure, non employment of youths and other economic problems is due to the non implementation of the 1999 constitutional framework.”
A mild drama however ensued as efforts by Senator Victor Umeh to interject Ubah’s submission was overruled by the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin who presided over the sitting.
Earlier in his lead debate, the Bill’s sponsor, Senator Kawu raised concerns that some governors play a crucial role in frustrating local government autonomy in Nigeria via constitutional alteration processes.
