The decision of an improperly constituted Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission to cancel the Local Government elections, under the instruction of Governor Peter Obi based on the changes strategy for his fidelity Bank factional APGA candidate is a grand deceit foretold.
No one needed a soothsayer to understand that the parody of fixing a last-minute local government elections, father 90 months of failing to do so was to temper the harsh criticism of Ndi Anambra ,Nigerians and even the International community.
It is however a major miscalculation, particularly now that the government has again predictable failed.
In the first instance, Anambra State government deliberately did not release the funds that were required by ANSIEC to conduct the supposed elections which were to take place on October 5, 2013.
Secondly, the government deliberately failed to carry out one of the simplest, but most significant steps towards the election –nominating a substantive chairman and constituting the Board of ANSIEC, hence deliberately creating legal booby traps.
Finally, the government in power had intractable problems in their party-APGA which left to produce double candidates at all levels in the now deferred LG polls.
Now Ndi Anambra know that even on December 14, 2013, EVEN if all other conditions are met, the elections will not hold ,until such a time when the domestic quarrel in APGA ,which has also made them produce two gubernatorial candidates is settled.
We recall that the in the Abuja Municipal Council Elections which took place a few months ago, APGA had not candidate for similar reasons.
We urge Gov Peter Obi to stop wasting the resources of aspirant, candidates and political parties, whose only offence is that they have an ambition where Obi would prefer, even against the law- to have vacancies he can fill as patronage in the form of Transition Committtees at the LG level.
We appeal to Ndi Anambra and their friends to rise in condemnation of this APGA stop-go approach to serious matters of State and jettison these recurrent indices of planlessness from our body polity by voting for Senator Chris Ngige to replace Gov. Obi’s knee-jerk operations with a sound government.
We take this chance to war that the N1.5bn provided in the state budget for this year’s LG polls, must not be diverted into any other use, in the likely event of not being able to hold the elections at all this year.
Okelo Madukaife
For: ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS, APC (ACN +ANPP+CPC+DPP+APGA-APC)
Anambra State Chapter
