By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Anambra State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Hon. Tonycollins Nwabunwanne, has said that the immediate-past councilors in the State should be grateful to Governor Chukwuma Soludo for giving them the opportunity to serve in the state.
The Commissioner stated this in an interview with this reporter, in his reaction to the viral media publication where the councilors alleged that Governor Soludo has abandoned them since after their “removal” from office.
Recall that the immediate-past councilors in Anambra State, under the umbrella of Solution Pioneer Councilors have recently expressed what they described as their grievances over the manner in which they were removed from office.
The ex-councilors, who claimed that their removal was abrupt and inconsistent with what they were initially told, also claimed that there was no proper compensation or acknowledgment of their services after their exit from office, adding that their entitlements were not paid, as the promise of financial compensation made to them were not fulfilled, despite all the sacrifices they made and the risks they took in the course of their services for one year and eight months in office.
They also claimed that Governor Soludo had abandoned them and had not fulfilled his promise to have an interaction with them, while their attempts to have an audience with him have continued to prove abortive.
Furthermore, the ex-councilors threatened to declare their support to another politician of their choice ahead of the 2025 governorship election in the State.
However, reacting to the claims and threat of the ex-councilors, the State Commissioner for Local Government, Community and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Nwabunwanne, said the councilors got it all wrong, especially by not being appreciative to Governor Soludo, who chose and gave them the opportunity to serve and also paid them their salaries as and when due throughout their stay in the office for barely two years.
The Commissioner also clarified that the people are not even councilors as they claim, but members of the Transition Committee in their respective local government areas, adding that they were magnanimously appointed by the Governor based on the recommendations of their people in their respective wards. He wondered why the people should not be appreciative of the Governor who gave them the opportunity in the first place, and also marvelled at such utterances by the people, especially the claim that the Governor has abandoned them.
“So, because some other people were also given opportunity to serve, they are now claiming that the Governor abandoned them. Where were they before the Governor made them councilors in the first place? Was it not people that also left before they came in?” Commissioner Nwabunwanne wondered.
While reiterating that the people should have counted themselves lucky appreciated the Governor’s magnanimity first, the Commissioner also revealed that it is only in Anambra State that members of the Local Government Transition Committees are selected from all the wards in every local government areas, as many other states select a maximum of five or six persons in total for every local government area. He also added that, even in many of those states the selected persons are singlehandedly chosen by the Governor himself, while the reverse is the case in Anambra where, he said, Transition Committee members are selected based on the recommendations of the people.
“So, Soludo was magnanimous enough to say that every ward should bring one person. This is because he believes so much in grassroots mobilization. Even at the community level, people choose their President-Generals by themselves,” he explained.
Concerning the acclaimed entitlements and compensation, Commissioner Nwabunwanne described it as “another false and empty claims”, maintaining that the Governor or the state government does not owe any of the people a dime, and neither was any money promised them when they left office. He also reiterated that the people were not councilors, neither were they elected into office.
The Commissioner also described as unwarranted, the threat by the people that they may declare their support to another governorship aspirant in the forthcoming guber election in the state, other than Governor Soludo, if their grievances are not addressed. With reference to himself and some other politicians in the state, he cited examples of some persons who still retained their loyalty and faithfulness to their party and never worked against it even when they were out of political office for years after having had a taste of it and vacated for others.
According to him, the fact that the people are not in office today does not imply that they won’t be in office tomorrow, as there are still many appointive and elective political prospects ahead for them, both at the ward level, community level, constituency level, local government level, senatorial level, state level and otherwise.
When asked about Anambra’s stance and level of preparedness with respect to conducting local government election, Commissioner Nwabunwanne said the process is underway, as the Soludo Administration is already taking action towards that.
According to him, the Governor would soon announce the names of the Board members of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), who would see to the conducting of the local government election.
“Soonest, Mr. Governor is going to announce the ANSIEC Board members, and they’ll take it up from there and start preparing for the election,” he said.
