Imo to conduct council elections soon, says Commissioner

By Victor Nwachukwu

Mrs Ruby Emele, Imo Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, says  plans are underway for the conduct of local council  area elections in the state.

Emele made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Owerri, on Friday.

She  said that earlier plans to conduct the elections were truncated by the deadly COVID-19  pandemic, EndSARS protest and insecurity in some rural areas of the state.

“ The plans are already in top gear. Local council elections will be conducted soon. The date will be announced in no time,” she said.

She also said the state government was taking cogent steps to resolve boundary disputes between some neighbouring communities,  through the Boundary Disputes Resolution committee led by the Dep. Gov. of the state, Prof. Placid Njoku.

She said that  certificates of recognition and staffs of office would soon be issued to traditional rulers who were yet to receive them.

She, however,  frowned at frosty relations between some Presidents-General and their traditional rulers, adding that the state government was doing its best to make the council active and vibrant and to provide an enabling environment for the organised private sector to thrive.

She explained that the on-going promotion interviews for staff of local government councils in the state was part of governments efforts to encourage efficiency and productivity in the state civil service.

She further said that measures were being intensified to dredge the Orashi River into an international seaport, to further boost commerce, industrialisation,  revenue generation and job creation in the state.

(NAN)