Politics
LP’s Achonu knocks Imo Govt over timing of LG polls
Sen. Athan Achonu, the Labour Party candidate in the November 11 governorship election in Imo, has faulted plans by the state government to conduct council polls few months before the election.
Achonu made his stance known while addressing newsmen in Owerri on Wednesday.
Recall that the Imo Governor, Sen. Hope Uzodimma had, in a meeting with leaders of the All Progressives Congress in the state last April, promised to conduct local government elections not later than July 2023.
The timetable for the elections have, however, not been announced five days to the end of July.
Achonu, represented by the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Mr Chime Nzeribe, argued that council polls should be conducted by governors upon their assumption of office rather than months to a governorship election.
He decried the delay in the conduct of the council polls describing it as a “betrayal of the real motive” behind the election.
According to him, the timing of a Local Government election should reflect, not a desperate desire to groom supporters at the grassroots level for the ruling party but a sincere desire to empower the local governments and make them work in the interest of the masses.
“ “ We are at a loss why a government that has almost exhausted its constitutionally guaranteed four years in office, has woken up on the eve of its exit, to perform a very crucial task it bluntly ignored when it had all the time in the world to do so.
“The choice of this seeming odd hour to conduct local government election underscores the fact that it’s being motivated by re-election desperation, and not the collective welfare and well-being of Imo electorate, especially the millions of rural dwellers.
“ As your governor, I will conduct local council elections upon assumption of office and not weeks to the next election as seen today.
“ Local government autonomy will solve some of our problems ranging from insecurity to grassroots development and youth empowerment among others “, he said.
He urged Imo people to keep faith with his ‘Take-Back-Imo ‘ agenda as it will bring unprecedented prosperity to the state.
Wale Akinterinwa, a governorship hopeful on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), says he will turn Ondo into another Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, if elected governor.
The Ondo APC governorship primary election is scheduled for April 20 while the state-wide election will be held on November 16.
Speaking during his official declaration at the ruling party’s secretariat in Akure, the state capital, on Tuesday, Akinterinwa said he will make Ondo an industrialised state.
The governorship hopeful who had worked in Lagos civil service, said he would utilise the natural resources in the state to attract investments.
“We will turn Ondo into another Lagos state in terms of development because we have what it takes, in terms of coast. We must ensure that the port comes alive and that will be a game changer,” Akinterinwa said.
“But, beyond that, we also have the landmass and ought to be an agrarian state. So, we are going to take agriculture to the next level while we encourage and support the local farmers.
“We will also attract investors who will invest in agriculture so that we will be exporting finished products. We will not just be producing for the table but we will be producing for export.”
On security, Akinterinwa said his economic initiatives would get most youth employed and lead to reduction in the rate of insecurity in the state.
“For security, part of our challenges today is because today is because we have many unemployed youths. So, Amotekun founded by our late governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and other South West governors will be strengthened so that with appropriate security in place, we can have development,” he said.
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for 2023 elections has declared his stance on the recent national convention of the party that saw Barr Julius Abure emerge as Julius Abure emerge as national chairman.
Addressing Nigerians on X Space hosted by Parallel Facts on Friday, Peter Obi said he ignored the convention because the party leadership under Abure failed to do wide consultation with key stakeholders of the party before embarking on the said convention.
The former Anambra Governor emphasised the need for the right thing to be done to salvage the party, adding that he is more passionate about building a new Nigeria than building a new Labour Party.
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