Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, praised the Enugu Local Government Council election as a shining example of democracy in action, commending the electoral process and impressive voter turnout.
After casting his ballot at Owo Ward in Nkanu East Local Government Area, Mbah expressed his delight with the peaceful conduct of the election across the state.
“This is a major milestone for us to be conducting the first local government elections under this administration across the state. Before I came here, I have been able to get reports on what is going on across the state, and I am very happy to report that the exercise across the state has been peaceful. I haven’t received any adverse report,” Mbah said.
He highlighted the importance of the local government elections, stating, “This is a very important exercise because we are trying to give our mandate to those that will lead us, that would carry out programmes and projects that will empower the grassroots. This is impressive for me.”
Mbah emphasized the need for local government autonomy, noting that the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy aligns with his government’s financial support to council areas and infrastructural projects across the state’s 260 wards.
He said, “Frankly, we have never had the local government operating as an appendage of the state in Enugu State. The local government in Enugu State under us has always operated as an autonomous arm of government.”
“What we have done in Enugu largely is boosting their operations by supporting them with finance, and we do not see that stopping because, as a government, our mandate is to ensure that the people are lifted out of the pit of poverty, and grow the economy of this state; and we cannot do that without taking care of our weakest link, which is the local government.”
Regarding the high voter turnout, Mbah attributed it to rising political awareness among citizens.
Mbah said, “This is people understanding that government policies and decisions will touch their lives. I think that is essentially what is getting them up to participate. They know that if they sit on the fence or do nothing, a government may come that may not be able to carry out programmes that will touch their lives. So, they are becoming increasingly aware, and that is why we can see this huge turnout of people coming to exercise their franchise.”