Politics
By Anthony Isibor.
THE Int’l Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law-Intersociety, the Southeast Zone of the Civil Liberties Organization-Southeast CLO and the Southeast Based Coalition of Human Rights and Democracy Organizations-SBCHROs; a coalition of over 20 Rights and Democracy groups have said that that over 90% of Anambra Markets are presently under bribe induced caretaker committees or ‘unopposed leaders’ since 2018.
The group in a statement jointly signed on Monday, May 2, 2022 in Enugu, by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Aloysius Emeka Attah, Vincent Ezekwueme also said that all the “elections” conducted into various markets across the state since 2020-starting with the “unopposed election” of the Ogbunike Building Materials Market in June 2021 are flawed and government imposed.
By “unopposed market election”, it is a multimillion naira bribe induced selection arrangement by former Governor William Obiano’s government and its Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Investment under Uchenna Okafor.
“Under the unpopular and corruptive arrangement, all members of the government imposed caretaker committee of each of the affected markets were returned to elective positions in makeshift ‘markets ‘elections’ as “unopposed elected market leaders.
“Markets affected by this brazen and condemnable arrangement include Ogbunike Building Materials Market, Ogbaru Relief Market, Onitsha Bridgehead Central Market, Onitsha Tools and Allied Products Dealers Market, Onitsha Ogbosisi by Niger Street Market, Onitsha Old Iron, Akpakara Dealers Markets (1 & 2), Oba Electrical Market, Anambra State Market Amalgamated Traders Association, ASMATA; a supposedly Anambra Central Markets’ leadership; etc.
“On the other hand, ‘imposed Market leadership’ is the imposition of a caretaker committee with three or six months renewal bribe of at least N5m and limitless elongation of same at N5m per three or six months. Onitsha Ogbogwu, Drugs Market, for instance, had been under ‘caretaker committee’ since July 23, 2020. The above are just to mention but a few.
They also noted that one of the last credible Market elections was the election of the Onitsha Electronics Market conducted in 2018.
Similarly, the group warned the affected market leaders to desist from attempts aimed at scuttling the government’s sanitization and democratization exercise in the state’s market with bribery to desist from such act as ‘Flushing Out Imposed And ‘Unopposed Leaders’ In Anambra Markets Is Not What Bribery Money In Ghana-Must-Go Bags And Brown Envelopes Can Stop.’
It also said that it has been receiving reports since the State Government’s announcement that bribery money in ‘Ghana-Must-Go bags and Brown Envelopes have been flying at different political quarters at the Awka Government House and top security formations by the affected market traders, told the affected market leaders to prepare their handover, pack and go and stop flying bribery money in Ghana-Must-Go bags and Brown Envelopes at Awka Government House.
“Pieces of available information also have it that it was when the Ghana-Must-Go and Brown Envelopes failed to do their biddings that some of the affected traders turned around and threatened the State Government with a showdown/shutdown
“No amount of nocturnal meetings and bribery money in Ghana-Must-Go can coerce the State Government to recant its stance on this.
“We have already spread our tentacles to the State Ministries of Trade, Commerce and Transport and Offices of the SSG and the Chief of Staff as well as the SA on Security, etc so as to monitor the possible movement of ‘Ghana-Must-Go and Brown Envelopes for the purpose of perverting democratization and sanitization of Anambra Markets.
“The Committee in charge of constituting fresh Market caretaker committees is also under our strict watch and any bribe collected must be exposed and made refundable,” it added.
They also commended governor Soludo for his informed, timely, correct and popular decision and urged him to ensure that no single market and its imposed or ‘unopposed leaders’ in the state must be spared and the caretaker committees when put in place in each of the affected markets must not exceed six months or one year and credible and all inclusive market elections must be conducted with fresh and credible persons popularly elected into different elective positions in each of the affected markets.
The group noted also that the sacked imposed and ‘unopposed leaders’ (chairmen) in the affected markets shall be ineligible in the upcoming fresh popular and credible elections; likewise those in charge of the new ‘transition caretaker committees’ except they properly resign six or three months to their new market election.
– May. 02, 2022 @ 17:46 GMT | A I.
Tags: Aloysius Emeka Attah Emeka Umeagbalasi Uchenna Okafor Vincent Ezekwueme William Obiano
