Suleiman Anyalewechi, Aba
Abia State chapter of the Labour Party, LP, has said it will not participate in the May 19, 2023 Local Council Election scheduled by the outgoing Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, administration, describing it as ill conceived, ill-intentioned and ill timed, just as it has said that the planned polls will put undue pressure on the lean resources of the state.
Hon Ceekay Igara, Chairman of the party who made this known in an exclusive telephone interview with NewsCritic online on Tuesday, May16 2023 noted that the decision to boycott the council polls was reached after extensive consultations with various stakeholders of the party.
According to him, the popular position of many party stakeholders is that the planned local council elections is not in tandem with the yearnings, aspirations, expectations and interests of Abians at this very crucial moment, adding that the LP has resolved not to confer unmerited credibility to the process, hence its decision to shun the exercise.
“We concede to the constitutional rights of the outgoing PDP administration to conduct local council polls. But we are of the firm conviction that the current move is ill conceived, ill-intentioned and ill timed. We are also of the believe that the exercise will lead to unnecessary pressure on the state lean resources at a time all efforts should be geared towards a seamless transition of power to the incoming regime. You don’t need to be told the amount of money needed for elections of such magnitude.
“For now, LP in Abia is of the opinion that there are other more pressing needs to be attended to, such as the huge salary arrears of the civil servants and the glaring case of infrastructural deficits. Besides, what is the essence of a government that has just a few days in office to embark on such a capital-intensive exercise? The whole thing smacks of suspicion. Our candid advice to Gov Okezie Ikpeazu is to reconsider the exercise and allow the incoming regime to organize an all-inclusive local council election,” Hon Igara said.
It would be recalled that the outgoing Gov Ikpeazu administration has scheduled to conduct local council polls to replace the former leadership of the 17 local councils of the state, whose tenure elapsed last December 22, 2022. The election is slated to hold on Friday May19, 2023 across the 17 LGCs, a decision which has elicited wide condemnation from not a few Abian.
