I had various engagements in Owerri town Tuesday morning before a peculiar assignment took me to the premises of the Appeal Court, in the Imo State capital.
At the court building off Portharcourt road, I noticed quality presence of former councilors of the various local governments in the state milling around. What however struck me was that the faces of those who were councilors of the Ikedi Ohakim era elected in 2010, the life span of their tenure, was caught short by that of Rochas Okorocha.
Most of them appeared chapfallen with forlon looks on their faces. Their disconsolate state was enough signal that their matter has not been properly settled ten years after mandate given to them came to an abrupt end.
A further push from my end revealed that they came to the Appeal Court, Owerri, with respect to the inability of the state government continuing with their pay off, which the Industrial Court in Owerri, had ordered in an earlier judgment.
An account available to me has it that after the Industrial Court had ruled that the removed councilors be paid for two years period the Okorocha government refused them entry into the council secretariats and subsequently denied them monthly allowances, the state government during the era of Emeka Ihedioha complied with the judgment but under piecemeal payment. The affected councilors were said to have entered into “gentleman’s agreement” with the state government for gradual liquidation of the debt. In the last count, it was confirmed that three councils; Oru East, Ohaji/Egbema and Ngor Okpala had been successfully paid off remaining others from the 24 LGAs. It was the turn of Njaba LGA to receive payment before the administration of Hope Uzodinma came in to abort the process and went further to appeal against the decision of the Industrial Court, hence both parties landed at the Appeal Court.
I am not interested in the ensuing legal fireworks in the matter at the Appeal Court and possible outcome, but more concerned about the emerging scenario and its adverse effects on having an elected local government officials at the 27 LGAs of Imo State.
The federal government under President Buhari places premium on having elected local government council chairmen as enshrined in the constitution in charge of the LGAs. Imo has been witnessing a different case to this acceptable norm. However a ray of light appeared in the tunnel few weeks after taking over mantle of office early last year, as Uzodinma nominated and inaugurated chairman and members of the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission, ISIEC, for the purposes of the election. A year after this first step, no augury for election.
Gloomy commentaries have characterized the story of LGA elections and life of democratically elected officials after 2011, Okorocha became governor in Imo. His first official statement as number one citizen was an earthquake that swept off the good foundation previous governors laid for a properly constituted council officials.
The history of instability in the Imo LGA system cannot be traced without recounting the baleful intrigues Okorocha instituted in the system.
His lawless sack of elected council chairmen and councilors remains a pernicious tackle his successors can be said to have employed in giving ruthless blow to the democracy process of the very important third tier level of government.
The former governor sent elected councils officials he met in office packing five days later. Despite the decisions of the appellate court and Appeal court that declared his decision null and void, Okorocha still kept them off the councils and refused to accord them financial honours due to an elected chairman and councilor. The unrelenting chairmen and councilors didn’t hesitate to go to court. At a stage when the court crossfire lingered, a section of the aggrieved officials opted to have the two years tenure Appeal Court said they were entitled to.
Some of the out of office chairmen and the remaining councilors went to the Supreme Court to challenge the issue of tenure.
The appeal court had earlier ruled that the Ohakim LGA Chairmen and Councilors were entitled to two instead of three years tenure from August 2010 they were elected. While a group accepted the two years of the Appeal Court and went to Industrial Court to request for the payment which the state government agreed and later went to Appeal Court to challenge another faction decided to pursue the three years term demand to logical end.
While the two cases of the 2010 Elected LGAs are still at various stages of the Appeal and apex courts, a further angle of the theatre of absurdities rocking return of election in the LGA system is the case of those elected in 2018.
After spending seven years in office without considering having elected officials run the affairs of the LGA, Okorocha as governor chose to conduct the election seven months to his exit during his second tenure. From 2011 to 2019, it was only in 2018 an election was held.
His immediate successor, Ihedioha further caused a breach of the LGA process as he carefully packed the chairmen and councilors out of the office. Unlike the Okorocha approach that was outright dissolution, the PDP Governorship candidate that was removed by the Supreme Court was more tactical in the clean sweep.
Apparently trying to use “due process” in aborting the life span of the council chairmen elected under Okorocha which had an obnoxious pattern of electing councilors from autonomous communities of the respective towns in the state other than the orthodox ISIEC or INEC wards, members of the Imo House of Assembly “suspended them” from office for refusal to appear before it after summons to explain how they managed LGA funds in the past.
The 2018 Elected chairman also ran to the law courts to seek redress against the perceived unjust ejection from the councils. By the time they got the first victory from the court, Uzodinma and not Ihedioha who jettisoned them was now incharge. Uzodinma similar to the Okorocha pattern kicked against the Court decision. The outsted LGA officials of the Okorocha time have approached the Supreme Court in the course of seeking justice.
Uzodinma’s ascendency to office of the Governor saw the removal of Interim Management Committee, IMC officials appointed during the Ihedioha era. Uzodinma used his appointees to replace that of his immediate predecessor.
One remarkable aspect of the Ihedioha time was the seriousness showed towards conduct of a democratic elected council officials. When he came on board. He promised to have council polls before the end of 2019. Despite constitution of ISIEC commission and follow up preparations, no election was organized for the seven months he was incharge until Supreme Court struck. In January of 2020 Ihedioha was removed, it was still the caretaker committee he put in place that left with him.
At present, there is nothing to show LGA elections will hold in the nearest future in Imo as no one has gotten concrete statements about the possibility.
Uzodinma in several addresses to Imo people is yet to open up on what lies ahead for the 27 councils of the state despite existence of ISIEC commission members.
Worse still, the current budget of the state does not have provisions for LGA election this year. Except, a supplementary budget is approved by the Imo State House of Assembly to cover for the LGA elections, people of the state will continue to be in limbo concerning the conduct of a democratically elected council chairmen and councilors. LGAs remain vital aspect of government. It is the sector that touches the grassroots. The quantum of multiplier effects of a democratically elected government at the council levels can’t be overemphasized. Apart from enormous political opportunities available for political empowerment, it spreads dividends of democracy to the locals. It also helps to reduce burden of governance heaped on the head of the state executive.
