Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday, inaugurated the newly-elected chairmen and deputies of the 17 local government areas in Enugu State with a charge not to betray the confidence reposed in them and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the electorate.
The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), on Sunday, declared candidates of the PDP winners of chairmanship and councillorship seats contested in the local government and 260 electoral wards and issued certificates of return to the winners.
Speaking during the inauguration, Governor Ugwuanyi expressed delight with voters turnout and enjoined the chairmen and councillors to exercise their “popular mandates with the fear of God.”
The governor also charged the chairmen to lead with utmost sense of transparency, accountability, probity and humaneness.
“There shall be no interferences whatsoever in the running of the councils. Instead we will continue to synergies with the councils to better the lots of the rural areas where the overwhelming populations of our people live.
“In very difficult economic times like this, your government must wear a human face and work to lift our people out of poverty. You must work diligently to execute the constitutional responsibilities of the third tier of government to help us to catalyse rural development and economy.
“We want to see competitive development in the construction and maintenance of feeder roads, health facilities, primary educational facilities, portable water, rural electrification, and investment in agriculture, among others,” Ugwuanyi said.
While acknowledging the efforts of his administration in enhancing the security of the state, he charged the chairmen to prioritise security and peace in their local governments for the state to achieve more progress.
Archbishop Chukwuma commended Governor Ugwuanyi for the peaceful and successful conduct of the local government elections in the state, describing the exercise as “transparent and violence-free”.
The cleric tasked the newly-inaugurated chairmen to raise their performance bar in line with the people-oriented programmes of Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration, especially at the grassroots.
Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has applauded Governor Ugwuanyi for ensuring the conduct of local government election in the state. State Chairman of CNPP, Chief Adonis Igwe, said what was more important was sticking to the rule of law by the governor who midwived the election.
He said by not following some other state governors to constitute transition committee for the council areas, Ugwuanyi had shown that he is a true democrat, being a former lawmaker too.
Igwe also commended ENSIEC, the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, State Director Directorate of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies for ensuring a violent free election.
The CNPP boss who congratulated all the candidates that emerged in the election also thanked God for a violent free exercise urged the people of the state to maintain such level of peace in future elections in the state.