Daily Independent Online.
*
Wednesday, June 30, 2004.
Abia council chiefs live in fear
By Uche Nwosu,
special
correspondent,
Umuahia
Fears that some of the 17 local government
chairmen sworn in on Monday by Governor Orji Uzor Kalu may not be allowed to
discharge their functions or may be physically attacked pervades Abia State.
It was learnt that the council chairmen
that may not find things easy unless some security measures are put in place
are those of Aba South, Aba North, Ukwu East, Ukwa West, Ugunnagbo, Obingwa and
Osisioma local government areas.
A group called Ukwa-Ngwa Youth Forum, it
was gathered has vowed to make the councils ungovernable unless their
candidates were sworn-in in placed of the elected chairmen.
The controversy that led to this might not
be unconnected with the controversies that trailed their selection at the
primaries before the March 27 election. Two lists of candidates were submitted
by the PDP to the state Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) under the
chairmanship of Professor Stephen Emejuaiwe.
The first list came from the state PDP
while, the other was brought by Abia politicians based in Abuja.
The Senate President, Chief Adolf Wabara
who is said to be championing the list from Abuja had consistently maintained
that some of those who emerged victorious at the poll were not approved by the
national secretariat of the PDP.
Wabara was said to have insisted that only
people whose names were contained in the list approved by the national
headquarters of the PDP should be sworn-in while ABSIEC turned down the
suggestion, saying that only those screened by it were duly elected would be
sworn in.
There has been a security beef-up in the
state after the swearing in.
There was tight security in and around the
Michael Okpara auditorium venue of the swearing in ceremony as many relations
and well-wishers who thronged the venue to witness the swearing in were locked
out.
Kalu said the
police were in red alert to deal with any situation, adding that anyone caught
fomenting trouble would have himself to blame.
