Guardian Disquiet in Enugu over oath-taking, bribery for council polls MONDAY, 24 JUNE 2013 00:00 FROM LAWRENCE NJOKU, ENUGU FEATURES- POLICY & POLITICS As the gladiators in Igbo-eze North battle on, on who gets what, the Nsukka local government is enmeshed in crisis over allegations that the council’s budget for 2013 was passed into law without going through the reading process by the lawmakers. Subsequently, a group under the aegis of Nsukka Development Forum (NDF) is pushing for the immediate recall of the 20 councilors in the council, as a result of the alleged constitutional breach. THE political atmosphere in some local government areas in Enugu State is no longer comfortable. This is as a result of the “fight” by stakeholders over who controls the structures of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the run-up to the council elections in December, and probably the 2015 general elections. Although the contention spreads in all councils of the state, it is not as pronounced as in the Enugu North senatorial zone. The reason for this is obvious. Apart from the party signaling its intention to zone the governorship position of the state to the area in 2015, so many gladiators have lined up to contest or ensure that the right things are done. Thus, to get the support of the stakeholders, money is reportedly being thrown about in Enugu North, to ease out certain occupants of office at the council level, who may constitute obstacles during the 2015 elections, using the December 2013 council poll as a springboard. Consequently, those who have benefited from the largesse are allegedly being subjected to political oath-taking, apparently to ensure that they do not disappoint in their support at the end of the day. This is the point of discord in Igboeze North and Nsukka councils of the state, where certain ward chairmen and their officials have been accused of political oath-taking, to deliver their wards to certain interests, after collecting undisclosed sums of money. Unless something is done fast, the matter has the tendency of snowballing into a major crisis in the area. Perturbed by the dimension it had taken so far, and perhaps, to avoid any ugly occurrences, the leadership of the PDP in the state has directed the Enugu North senatorial district office of the party, headed by the zonal vice chairman, Chief Mike Ejinima, to probe the political mess rocking the party in the council area. Ejinima, who confirmed receiving the directives from the leadership of the party, said that he had also received several petitions from various groups in the senatorial zone over the development. “We are looking into the petitions and will soon come up with a position on them,” he told The Guardian. However, it was gathered that the situation in the party is more tensed in Igboeze North council, which is the council area of the chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Ayogu Eze, representing Enugu North senatorial zone. Eze allegedly has interest in the governorship of the state in 2015. It is being viewed that removing the structure of his council from him by dividing his ward chairmen would destabilise his ambition; and this is possibly why the contention has started from here. But the 20 councilors of the local government have insisted that their ward chairmen be tried and sanctioned for allegedly collecting money and allowing themselves to be led into oath-taking. They made the demand in a signed statement by the leader of the House, Kenneth Odo and his deputy, Tochi Mama. Describing the action of those who took the said oath as barbaric, the 20 councilors stated: “We condemn in strong terms, the oath-taking by some PDP officials in some of the electoral wards, and thereby mortgaging their conscience, contrary to the constitution of the party. “As leaders of these wards, we state that this barbaric conduct is unacceptable in the politics of our local government area and we hereby urge the party to address this matter strictly in accordance with the party’s constitution, as a way of deterring others from engaging in this type of shameful behaviour.” They equally dismissed, as untenable, the allegations the rebellious ward party officials leveled against Luke Uroko, the Igboeze council chairman of the party, saying that the allegations are “an attempt to divert attention from the grievous act of oath-taking into which they allowed themselves to be misled. “We, therefore, pass a vote of implicit confidence on the chairman of the local government council, Mr. Bonaventure Onuh,” they stated, maintaining that the council boss had done well so far. But while the councilors are busy pressing for punishment for the ward chairmen, 20 ward secretaries of the council, in a petition they signed and sent to the party executive, said they were solidly behind the action of the ward chairmen, just as they asked that certain leaders of the party in the council be cautioned over their activities. Their petition reads: “Having regards to the current development in Igbo-eze North PDP executive structure, we the undersigned (ward secretaries) hereby affirm our total support for the efforts of the Igboeze North ward chairmen, whose position has opened the canker worms that have been silently eating our party. “The local government position of the party chairmen on internal democracy, no doubt, is needed to strengthen the party before the forthcoming elections.” The secretaries also deplored the activities of some stakeholders of the party in the council, whom they accused of “sharing N5,000 from the local government fund to each ward executive and forcing them to sign documents, which they claimed were given to them on the instruction of the governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime.” They added that the leaders had so far visited six wards to obtain signatures. Speaking on the development, the party council chairman, Luke Uroko, alleged that 18 electoral ward chairmen and some of their ward officials were allegedly involved in the political oath-taking apparently to pander to the wishes of perceived aspirants either in the 2013 council elections in the state or the 2015 governorship election. He traced the source of the money tearing the council apart to an unnamed politician in the state, explaining that was “an underground plot to buy off the structures of the party in Enugu North senatorial zone before the 2015 general elections.” Uroko said the officials confessed to having taken the said political oath, and that it was based on their confession that his party at the local council level set up a probe committee, to find out the number of officials involved, the sponsors of the politicians and “to make sure that they are liberated from the entanglement with the idols.” “It is against the principles and constitution of the PDP and even the Nigerian Constitution,” he said. “We want to make them free party members and free from being mortgaged, especially as that state of affairs would affect their actions during party primaries and during actual elections.” One of the break-away ward chairmen, Mr. Alexander Urama, who had addressed newsmen on behalf of others over the crisis, accused Uroko of bad leadership and that they had attempted to complain to Senator Ayogu Eze. He also alleged poor political leadership in the council, an accusation the councilors dismissed as unfounded. In a separate interview, one of the party officials and the ward secretary for Ozzi Ward V, Mr. Samuel Idoko, who said he backed out of the alleged oath-taking, explained that he did not take part because of the perceived implications of the action, and condemned those who did. Meanwhile, as the gladiators in Igbo-eze North battle on, on who gets what, the Nsukka local government is enmeshed in crisis over allegations that the council budget for 2013 was passed into law without going through the reading process by the lawmakers. Subsequently, a group under the aegis of Nsukka Development Forum (NDF) is pushing for the immediate recall of the 20 councilors in the council, as a result of the alleged constitutional breach. It was learnt that before the 20 councilors proceeded for this year’s Easter break, the House Leader, Mr. Festus Ugwu, allegedly convinced them into going ahead to pass the budget without reading it for once. According to the source: “I think we have now seen the reason for the coup Nsukka people witnessed early this year in the leadership of the council. “You recall that the (legislative council’s) leader and the deputy were removed without following due process. I am not holding the brief for them, but from what is happening, it is clear that the council chairman wanted them out so that the kangaroo budget would be passed without hitches. “I can tell you that the budget was not read even for a day in the Nsukka Legislative Council, neither was any of the supervisors invited to defend any part of the budget; the only thing they did was to send it back to the chairman for accent few days to the Easter break. “As I speak to you, the so-called budget has been signed by the council chairman, Barr. Tony Ugwu. I consider such thing a major setback on grassroots development. Both the chairman and the councilors should be summoned by the Enugu State House of Assembly; they are all culpable.” The Guardian, which was shown the record of proceedings of the council lawmakers, discovered that the budget never featured in the discussions of the council from the date it was presented till its signing. Angered by this development, the NDF has called on the Enugu State House of Assembly to investigate the processes involved in the passage of the 2013 budget of the Nsukka council. The coordinator of the group, Comrade Chika Ezeugwu, said, “we cannot accept a situation where the entire Nsukka people should be taken for granted.” Calling on Governor Chime and the State Assembly to investigate the embarrassing situation in Nsukka council, Ezeugwu argued that the budget that the chairman signed into law was exactly the same thing with the 2012 budget of the council. “The only difference in the two budgets is the date,” he said, adding, “now, the question we have is: ‘does it mean the chairman did nothing in 2012? What happened to the money budgeted for these projects in 2012?’ “So, we demand that the chairman and the councilors should be investigated, to determine the role they played in this saga. We shall not hesitate to proceed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).” In a reaction, the embattled Leader of the Council, Mr. Ugwu, said in a telephone interview that all legislative processes were adhered to before the budget was passed. He, however, declined further comments on when the budget was presented for reading before the House, stressing, “it is not true; it is an allegation.”
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:51:00 +0000
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