Governor Peter Mbah has urged Enugu’s 17 newly sworn-in LG chairmen to tackle poverty immediately, warning that there will be no honeymoon.
Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has charged the 17 newly sworn-in local government chairmen in the state to immediately begin work, declaring that there would be no honeymoon as they take on the responsibility of delivering development and eradicating poverty.
Mbah gave the directive during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected chairmen and vice chairmen at the Government House, Enugu.
The governor described local governments as active partners in his administration’s development agenda, stressing that the third tier of government must play a central role in improving the lives of residents, particularly in rural communities.
The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) had on Sunday declared candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winners of all 17 chairmanship and 260 councillorship seats in the local government election held across the state on Saturday.
The newly sworn-in chairmen are John Ogbodo of Nkanu West; Mike Ogbuekwe of Nkanu East; Ugochukwu Nwanjoku of Aninri; Jude Chinedu Asogwa of Nsukka; Caleb Ani of Enugu South; Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze of Igboeze South; Brendan Emeka Ani of Isi-Uzo; Ibenaku Onoh of Enugu North; Martin Amadieze of Igbo-Etiti; and Innocent Ezeoha of Udenu.
Others are Chris Onyekachi Simon of Igboeze North; Chijioke Ezeugwu of Uzo Uwani; Hyginus Agu of Udi; Uche Okolo of Awgu; Beloved Dan Anike of Enugu East; Greg Anyaegbudike of Oji River; and Vitals Ndu of Ezeagu.
Addressing the chairmen, Mbah said the promises they made during their campaigns had become obligations to the electorate, describing their election as a social contract with the people.
He urged them to begin implementing their campaign promises without delay, noting that the challenges facing the state required immediate and coordinated action.
“In the last few weeks, you went around the communities, meeting our people, soliciting their votes. They have done you that honour of giving you their mandates to serve them, and it is now your turn to discharge those commitments,” he said.
Mbah added that their inauguration marked the formal commencement of their responsibility to the electorate.
“I would, therefore, imagine that you are going to hit the ground running because there is really no honeymoon when we have quite a whole number of tasks ahead of us at this point,” he said.
The governor identified poverty eradication as a major priority, stressing that the state’s development objectives could not be achieved without addressing poverty in rural communities.
He urged the chairmen to align their programmes with the state government’s priorities, particularly in education, healthcare, sanitation, agriculture and poverty reduction.
Mbah also called on the council leaders to remain accessible and accountable to residents while ensuring that public funds were used responsibly.
“You must be accessible to the people that elected you. You must be accountable to them. And you must spend their resources responsibly,” he stressed.
On education, the governor urged the chairmen to focus on measurable outcomes, including improved literacy, numeracy and school enrolment, rather than concentrating solely on infrastructure.
He specifically directed them to identify children of school age who were not attending school in their respective local government areas and work towards ensuring that every child had access to education.
“It should equally interest you to have the statistics of those kids that are of school age that are not in school in your local government and to be actively working to ensure that you have zero — and I mean zero — not even one child who is of school age should be out of school,” he said.
The governor further urged the chairmen to prioritise the welfare of poor and vulnerable residents, emphasising the need to measure progress in poverty reduction through tangible results rather than political declarations.
Responding on behalf of the chairmen, the re-elected Chairman of Igboeze South Local Government Area and Deputy Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Enugu State chapter, Barr. Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze, thanked the governor and the people of the state for the opportunity to serve.
Ukwueze said those who had previously served under Mbah had gained valuable experience and pledged that the chairmen would remain committed to good governance and the state’s development agenda.
He expressed confidence that the chairmen would make meaningful contributions to the development of Enugu State before the end of their tenure.
“For those of us that were privileged to serve under your leadership in the past two years, I can tell you that the knowledge gained, experience acquired cannot be measured in words,” he said.
He added that the chairmen were committed to sustaining the governor’s governance principles and making their tenure meaningful to the people.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Deputy Governor Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai; members representing Nkanu East and West, and Igboeze North and South Federal Constituencies, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji and Hon. Dennis Agbo, respectively.
Other dignitaries included the APC Deputy National Chairman (South), Dr. Ben Nwoye; Enugu State APC Chairman, Dr. Martin Chukwunweike; Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia; and Chief of Staff, Barr. Victor Udeh, alongside other government officials and political stakeholders.
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