Local Government System in Abia undergoing massive reforms —Chieftaincy Affairs Commissioner Uzo Nwachukwu tells OMPAN Leadership

The Abia State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Hon Prince Uzor Nwachukwu says the Administration of Governor Alex Otti has reformed the Local Government System and restored its original status.

The Commissioner who stated this when he received a Select members of the The Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria(OMPAN) who visited him at the Ministries Headquarters in Umuahia went further to say Government has instituted a panel of inquiry to investigate the Staff of Office hurriedly issued to some Traditional rulers on the 9th of May 2023 by immediate Past Administration.

He said the immediate past administration was overwhelmed with the issue of governance and left the system to decay so badly.

“When I came in as SA , I realized that the state had no figure of how many Traditional rulers we have in Abia”

“So we said we have to do a verification which a lot of people wrongly called biometric but it was never biometric but to get proper identification of all the Traditional rulers in Abia State”

“After the enumeration, we now realized that there were 539 Traditional rulers as at that time in Abia”

Speaking further, the Commissioner said his Ministry stopped the desecration of the customs and traditions in Abia.

“My Father is a Traditional ruler and I understand that the traditional institution is a respected institution, I believe that if you want to be a traditional ruler of a community, you must have the capacity to manage people”

“It is not the responsibility of Government to choose who becomes Traditional ruler for any community but only insist that the process must be followed as enshrined by law”

“No administration has pumped in money into the Local Government Administration that the Administration of Governor Alex Otti”

He said the Governor has vowed to lift the standard of Leadership in Abia State.

Earlier in his Speech, the State Chairman of the Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria(OMPAN) Chief Promise Uzoma Okoro said they were at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to interface with the Commissioner and synergize with him in the area of information dissemination.

He also extended an invitation to the Commissioner to the Associations interactive media Chat coming up in May.