The Undemocratic Imposition Of Local Government Care-taker Committee On The People Of Delta State

We, the people of Anioma, otherwise referred to as Delta North Senatorial District in the administrative matters of Delta State have observed with incredulity, disappointment and extreme sadness, the repressive and sardonic imposition of selected individuals as members of care-taker committees to administer the affairs of local government areas of Delta State.

We consider this a clear rape on the political affairs of our state, which if we permit, no matter how brief, will negatively redefine our collective destiny as citizens of the state. These individuals by the name of “care-taker committee” are only personal preferences of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, personally voted in by him and generally forced on the people of Delta state. It is consequently becoming clearer that ideas of this one man are distastefully becoming objectionable without the will to involve the people in their own affairs.

We find it hard to believe that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan will choose to unjustly walk the despotic path of denying the people of the state self-governing and inalienable rights as guaranteed by the constitution to speak with votes. By disallowing majority votes to determine their fate, he has once again brought to an end, healthy democratic feature of political contests among interested people.

The implication of his action does not strike followers of political circumstances in the state with surprise because only the politically blind minds did not see it coming. Political situations in the state have in the past demonstrated that for Delta State, it is still a one-man chase seeking to design and redesign the political destiny of a whole people, which is more than excruciating.

It is needless to state here that the action of Governor Uduaghan negates the very principles of good governance as enshrined in the constitution and principled by the dictates of democratic values. With the imposition of a care-taker committee as the fate of millions of citizens and inhabitants of the state, the hand of the clock will once again point to unaccountable looting of all Delta State local governments and state’s treasuries

Surprisingly, this is coming at a time when Nigerians are lamenting the near assimilation of the local government by state governors who tie local government treasuries to their own waist so that nothing beyond human movements, form the only activities in the local government councils in the country. In this whole matter, we hear the voice of Jacob but see the hand of Esau, which evidently demonstrates that the state government is out for business as usual.

Quick thinking political minds are already ahead of what the governor is seeking to achieve with this move. Having secretly scripted his plots already, he will rape the hard earned democracy enthroned in the nation since 1999, encourage corruption to reign; obliterate the voice of the people at the grassroots level; deny the third tier of government in the state the right to existence; pursue self-determined policies in the name of supposed local government chairpersons and leave financial accounts in puzzling status.

Delta State receives one of the hugest allocations of funds from federal purse but cannot spend to fund election at the local level, prompting us to wonder on the inscrutability surrounding these huge sums of money generated by the local government areas for the state.

The Anioma people like the other ethnic groups in the state have suffered too many horrifying woes since 1999 as a result of political disregard at the hands of those who care too little about their immediate affairs and this inglorious act of care-taker committee is one more addition to the many political sins of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and we will resist it using officially permitted instruments at our disposal.

Since 1999, the sufferings of the citizens of the state have majorly emanated from the state governors/administrators who come and leave without adding anything of value to better the lot of our Anioma people.

May we by this release inform Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan that he still has the opportunity to conduct a free, fair and credible election to bring democratically elected chairpersons to head the local government areas through the state, failure which Ndi Anioma of Nigeria shall on behalf of the entire Anioma nation take a legal step aimed at compelling the Governor to do a reversal in his unfortunate decision.

We hope that Governor Uduaghan shall this time around listen to the voice of his reason.
Long Live Anioma nation!
Long Live Delta State!
Long Live Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Signed,
Fred Bardy
Gideon Ishiekwene
Lauretta Onochie
Emmanuel Nwaokolo
Smart Ajaja
Gloria Adagbon - Secretary.