A Chieftain of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and former Anambra State Commissioner for Land and Survey, Barr. Okoli Akirika, has condemned appointment of caretaker or transition committee members for running affairs of local government administration, describing it as undemocratic and retrogressive.
Akirika, while reacting to a recent Supreme Court judgement that barred state governors from appointing care take committee in place of elected officers, however, observed that the lacuna in 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria was why governors still perpetuate the illegality.
He, therefore, urged the National Assembly to amend the Constitution with a view to creating enabling environments for emergency of democratically elected Local Government officers in the country.
According to him, “there is a lacuna in the law. Section 7:1 says there shall ensure the existence of democratically elected government at the local government but it does not say such system must be in place. With this section the governors can decide to elect local government offices for two,and thereafter will not conduct election again throughout his tenure.
“But the various state government shall subject to the section to ensure the existence of democratically elected LG officers. It is something conceptualised by the law and it becomes anti democratic, unprogressive , retrogressive and worrisome for the state governors under any guise to appoint care taker committee to be in charge of the affairs of the system.
“The National Assembly should amend the law to ensure that the system of democratically elected local government officers are fully entrenched, functional and effective so that once a particular tenure is ending, elections are conducted into the positions. The law should provide for the federal government to withdraw funds meant for those local governments in the affected states. This will force governors to conduct local government elections.”
