The Anambra State House of Assembly today Tuesday 21st July, confirmed the appointment of twenty-one Transition Committee Chairmen and members to the twenty-one local governments of the state.
Earlier in the plenary, the Speaker Rt. Hon. Uche Okafor read the letter from the State governor, Chief Willie Obiano requesting the House to look at the list of the Transition Committee and confirm them in accordance with the position of the law.
In the letter, the governor noted that the appointment will be for three months as stipulated by the law. Governor Obiano’s letter to the House of Assembly reads in part;
“I wish to forward herewith names of persons to be considered for an election by the honourable House members as chairmen and members of the transition committee for local governments in the state. This will be for a period of three months, in consonance with the provisions of the law. The names of the said persons are stated in the attached list. As always, please be assured of my highest regards”.
A look at the submitted list which was later confirmed by the House however reveals that about seven out of the twenty-one Transition Committee Chairmen reconfirmed today have been serving in the same position for over three years. An indication that they have been reconfirmed by the House of Assembly every three months, for more than three years now.
Some of the TC Chairmen in this category include, the Transition Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government; Rt. Hon. Chukwudi Orizu, the Transition Chairman of Idemili North Local Government; Hon. Asher Raphael Nnabuife, who was also elected Idemili North local government chairman in 2013 when the last local government election was held in Anambra state and therefore the longest serving local government chairman in Anambra state. Others include Hon. Leo Nwuba the Transition Committee Chairman of Awka South and Hon. Patrick Agha Mba of Onitsha North local government, among others.
WAP gathered that many members of the The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) expressed dissapointment with the manner the Transition Committee chairmen have not been changed for so long, a situation some of them see as counterproductive, as it is not in the best interest of the party. Disagreements in this regard and attempts to mend fences, we gathered, was why the Transition Committee which was supposed to have been confirmed last week by the Assembly, was differed, but finally was confirmed today.
Two local governments; Ihiala and Orumba South, both in Anambra South senatorial zone got new Transition Committee Chairmen. For Orumba South, Hon. Ray Onyegu replaced Hon. Cyprain Okereke, while Hon. Jude Ojukwu emerged the new TC chairman of Ihiala Local Government.
Hon. Ralph Nnabuife the Transition Chairman of Idemili North Local Government Area in his vote of thanks on behalf of all the Transition Committee Chairmen, thanked members of the House for confirming them, and the Governor for nominating them. He also pledged that the Transition Committee will “work for the betterment of Anambra state”.
The Speaker Rt. Hon. Uche Okafor noted that a lot is expected of them. In his words;
“Make sure development trickles down to the grassroots and help His Excellency make his achievement visible in your various local government areas. Mostly now we are having this pandemic, it is your responsibility to work with your honourable members to make sure that the various precautionary measures against COVID-19 are being respected and followed in your various local governments. See as much as you can to make sure that palliative gets to the downtrodden in your local governments.”
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
