Politics

Rivers LGs And Amaechi’s Performance

Published

15 years ago

January 4, 2010

No one would blame the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for evaluating last year the performances of various local government chairmen in the state. After the tour of the local government, his finding was that only four out of the 23 chairmen executed projects that had positive impact on their people. Interestingly, within two years of his saddle in the administration of the state, some of his policy implementation at the local government was uncommon and traceable to many completed projects at that tier of governance. It was on record that the state governor took over the payment of primary school teachers salary at the local government level, built more than 250 model primary schools. Again, those critical sectors which the constitution assigns specifically to the local government such as the construction and maintenance of markets and rural roads among others were shouldered by his two year old administration. No wonder that was why he was praised for rolling out the score card on local government chairmen shortly after his tour. According to Governor Amaechi, some of the local government chairmen are very reckless in expenditure. Again, he observed that some of them are not showing the required level of responsibility in regaining the confidence of the electorates that elected them into offices. Barr. Ibimina Kelechi a gubernatorial candidate under the platform of Progressive Party Alliance (PPA) for the April 14, 2007, Election in Rivers State also concurred with Governor Amaechi’s argument as he disclosed that the local government chairmen cannot restore the hope of the electorates because most of the chairmen were handpicked by their hierarchy at the People Democratic Party (PDP), contrary to the spirit of the constitution. He lamented at the low level of performance in the 23 local government areas in Rivers State. He said as a politician, his view may sound harsh but is occasioned by the frustration that many people in Rivers State feel over the stark non-performance of the local governments. According to Kelechi, most of the local government chairmen are mere puppets in power to do the bidding of their political masters. Speaking shortly after a meeting of the Governors’ Forum in Yenagoa last year, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan lamented over the low level of governance at the tier of government. The Vice President blamed no one in particular for this sad state of affairs. But Hon. Ambross Iyagbe a one time member of the House of Assembly in the old Rivers State blamed the local government chairmen for the present rot in the local government. To him, the blame is to be laid squarely at the doorsteps of both the council officials on one hand and the present cream of members in the State Assembly. According to Iyagbe it is the constitutional duty of the members in the Rivers State Assembly to oversee the local government council. He remarked that because the state legislatures is not performing their duty that the local government council get away with their fiscal responsibilities. A situation where only four local government councils performed creditably or meet the performance evaluation chart of the state governor is very sad. Today, he noted, out of the 100 per cent Federated Account Allocation, 48 per cent goes to the Federal, 52 per cent is shared between the states and local governments. But he said, unthinkable as it may sound, many a council chairmen has no idea of the number of communities under his jurisdiction so how can he effectively implement development programme to the total growth of the local government area. Chief Eze Chukwuenuke Eze, Publicity Secretary of Action Congress (AC) in Rivers State also corroborated Hon. Iyagbe’s argument as he vowed that only the Action Congress (AC) can bring total revolution in the local government system. It was no surprise therefore, he too concurred with Hon Iyagbe’s argument, as he lamented that the perpetual state of disrepair of rural roads, while most of the rural roads at the local government council continued to host potholes and gullies, despite millions of the tax payer’s money voted to fix it. Chief Eze said the unfortunate trend under development has gone on for many years at the local government council. But with the constant check and balances initiated by the state governor, most of the local government council would perform well this year. He advised the local government chairmen to improve the socio-economic condition of the rural dwellers. He also supported the proposal of the state governor to the effect that there shall be no longer automatic ticket for serving local government council chairmen. According to Eze the inclination by parties to impose or provide automatic tickets, has made accountability at the tier of governance non-existence. The result he said, was the low level of performance that Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was lamenting. The AC publicity secretary also corroborated the submission of the state governor that the electorate should vote for persons with good track records. To Hon Tonye Brown, a councillor in Ward Three in Andoni, during the botched Third Republic, the sacking of local government chairmen by the State House of Assembly will provide accountability. He recalled that when the Better Life for Rural Dwellers was initiated by the late Maryam Babangida, the rot at the local government had not always been there. There were times when the allocation to the local government council was at near zero level, yet the council chairmen supported the better life for rural dwellers through the implementation of socio-economic programmes to improve their condition. Today, development at the local government councils is sometimes provided based on the party affiliation, noting that this has infiltrated the political system with dangerous definitions of power, nepotism, card carrying and so on. This has become he said, an antiquated stumbling stone on the path to democratic transformation at the local government areas. He argued, only the present monitoring of their performance can produce the needed optimal performance and tall expectation of the people at the local government area.

Politics

INEC Denies Registering New Political Parties

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has not registered any new political parties.

The commission gave the clarification in a statement on its X (formerly Twitter) handle last Wednesday.

It described the purported report circulated by some online social media platforms on the registration of two new political parties by INEC as fake.

“The attention of INEC has been drawn to a fake report making the rounds about the registration of two new political parties, namely “Independent Democrats (ID)” and “Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)”.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the commission has not yet registered any new party. The current number of registered political parties in Nigeria is 19 and nothing has been added,” it stated.

The commission recalled that both ID and PDM were registered as political parties in August 2013.

INEC further recalled that the two were deregistered in February 2020 in accordance with Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The commission, therefore, urged the public to disregard the said report.

Politics

You Weren’t Elected To Bury People, Tinubu Tells Alia

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

President Bola Tinubu has asked Governor Hyacinth Alia to work more for peace and development of Benue State, saying he was elected to govern, not to bury people.

The President said this while addressing stakeholders at the Government House, Markudi, last Wednesday.

He also called on the governor to set up a peace committee to address some of the issues in the state.

The meeting included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, traditional rulers, and former governors of the state.

The governors of Kwara, Imo, Kogi, Plateau, Ondo, and Nasarawa states also attended the meeting.

“Let us meet again in Abuja. Let’s fashion out a framework for lasting peace. I am ready to invest in that peace. I assure you, we will find peace. We will convert this tragedy into prosperity,” he said.

President Tinubu urged Governor Alia to allocate land for ranching and directed the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to follow up.

“I wanted to come here to commission projects, to reassure you of hope and prosperity, not to see gloomy faces. But peace is vital to development.

“The value of human life is greater than that of a cow. We were elected to govern, not to bury people”, he stressed.

He charged Governor Alia on working with the Federal Government to restore peace.

“Governor Alia, you were elected under the progressive banner to ensure peace, stability, and progress. You are not elected to bury people or comfort widows and orphans. We will work with you to achieve that peace. You must also work with us”, he said.

In his remarks, Governor Alia appealed to the Federal Government to establish a Special Intervention Fund for communities affected by repeated violent attacks across the state.

“Your Excellency, while we continue to mourn our losses and rebuild from the ashes of pain, we humbly urge the Federal Government to consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in Benue State,” he said.

Governor Alia said the fund would support the rehabilitation of displaced persons, reconstruction of destroyed homes and infrastructure, and the restoration of livelihoods, especially for farmers.

He reiterated his support for establishing state police as a lasting solution to insecurity.

The governor pledged his administration’s full commitment to building a safe, stable, prosperous Benue State.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the Benue State Traditional Rulers Council, Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof. James Ayatse, praised President Tinubu for being the first sitting President to personally visit victims in the hospital in the wake of such a tragedy.

He thanked the President for appointing notable Benue indigenes into key positions, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, while expressing hope that more appointments would follow.

Politics

Gowon Explains Why Aburi Accord Failed

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (ret’d), says the Aburi accord collapsed because Chukwuemeka Ojukwu wanted regional governors to control military zones.

Gen. Gowon was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1966 until 1975 when he was deposed in a bloodless coup while Ojukwu was military governor of the then Eastern Region in that span.

In a live television interview recently, Gen. Gowon narrated what transpired after the agreement was reached in Aburi, a town in Ghana.

The meeting that led to the accord took place from January 4 to 5, 1967, with delegates from both sides of the divide making inputs.

The goal was to resolve the political impasse threatening the country’s unity.

The point of the agreement was that each region should be responsible for its own affairs.

During the meeting, delegates arrived at certain resolutions on control and structure of the military. However, the exact agreement reached was the subject of controversy.

The failure of the Aburi accord culminated in Nigeria’s civil war, which lasted from July 6, 1967, to January 15, 1970.

Speaking on what transpired after the agreement, Gen. Gowon said the resolutions should have been discussed further and finalised.

The ex-military leader said he took ill after arriving in Nigeria from Aburi and that Ojukwu went on to make unauthorised statements about the accord.

Gen. Gowon said he did not know where Ojukwu got his version of the agreement from.

“We just went there (Aburi), as far as we were concerned, to meet as officers and then agree to get back home and resolve the problem at home. That was my understanding. But that was not his (Ojukwu) understanding,” he said.

Gen. Gowon said Ojukwu declined the invitation, citing safety concerns.

“I don’t know what accord he (Ojukwu) was reading because he came to the meeting with prepared papers of things he wanted. And, of course, we discussed them one by one, greed on some and disagreed on some.

“For example, to give one of the major issues, we said that the military would be zoned, but the control… He wanted those zones to be commanded by the governor.

“When you have a military zone in the north, it would be commanded by the governor of the military in the north, the military zone in the east would be commanded by him. Of course, we did not agree with that one”, Gen. Gowon added.

Ojukwu died on November 26, 2011 at the age of 78.