Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, has charged the newly sworn-in chairmen of the 17 local government areas in the state to immediately commence work, stressing that their election and inauguration marked the beginning of their responsibility to the people and not the end of a political contest.
Mbah gave the charge following the swearing-in of the newly elected local government chairmen at Government House, Enugu.
The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) had declared candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winners of the 17 chairmanship and 260 councillorship seats in the council election conducted across the state on Saturday.
The chairmen and their council areas are John Ogbodo, Nkanu West; Mike Ogbuekwe, Nkanu East; Ugochukwu Nwanjoku, Aninri; Jude Chinedu Asogwa, Nsukka; Caleb Ani, Enugu South; Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze, Igboeze South; Brendan Emeka Ani, Isi-Uzo; Ibenaku Onoh, Enugu North; Martin Amadieze, Igbo-Etiti; and Innocent Ezeoha, Udenu.
Others are Chris Onyekachi Simon, Igboeze North; Chijioke Ezeugwu, Uzo Uwani; Hyginus Agu, Udi; Uche Okolo, Awgu; Beloved Dan Anike, Enugu East; Greg Anyaegbudike, Oji River; and Vitals Ndu, Ezeagu.
He reminded the chairmen that the promises they made during the electioneering period had now become obligations to the electorate, describing the relationship between elected officials and the people as a social contract.
“You have just been given mandates to serve. This is not the end, this is just the beginning.
“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.
“So, what you have just done here today is beyond symbolism. It is quite significant because it means that you have just sealed the social contract you have with the people.
“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 asserted.
Mbah stressed the strategic importance of the local government system, describing it as the tier of government closest to the people and a critical partner in the state’s development agenda, adding that the government’s objective of eradicating poverty could not be achieved without addressing poverty in rural communities.
He, therefore, urged them to align their programmes and priorities with the broader development agenda of his administration, particularly in education, healthcare, sanitation, agriculture and poverty reduction.
Mbah further charged them to make themselves accessible and accountable to the people, stressing that election into office should not result in the elected officials becoming inaccessible to the same citizens who gave them their mandate.
“You must be accessible. You must be accountable to them. You must spend their resources responsibly,” Mbah said.
On education, the governor urged the chairmen to go beyond physical infrastructure and focus on measurable outcomes, including literacy, numeracy and school enrolment.
He emphasised the importance of investing in human capital, saying investments in education and skills development could create wealth and employment and have a lasting impact beyond physical infrastructure.
“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.
He urged the chairmen to make the welfare of poor and vulnerable residents a priority, saying poverty eradication would require deliberate measurement of progress rather than mere 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 Government of Nigeria, Enugu State, Barr. Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze, expressed appreciation to the people of the state and Mbah for giving them the privilege to serve.
He said some of them, who had previously served under Mbah, had acquired valuable experience during the period and pledged the commitment of the chairmen to good governance and expressed confidence that, at the end of their tenure, they would be proud of their contributions to the development of Enugu State.
“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.
“We want to sincerely commit and recommit ourselves to the course of your good governance so that at the end of our tenure, we will be proud that Enugu State gave you the opportunity to groom us to what we are actually becoming,” he said.
The event was witnessed by the Deputy Governor, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai; the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uche Ugwu; members representing Nkanu East and West, as well as Igboeze North and South Federal Constituencies, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji and Hon. Dennis Agbo, respectively; Deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Ben Nwoye; State APC Chairman, Dr. Martin Chukwunweike; Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia; Chief of Staff, Barr. Victor Udeh, among several other dignitaries and senior government officials.