Against the strain of the growing clamour for the conduct of fresh council polls to fill the vacant political offices in Edo State, Gov Godwin Obaseki has declared there won’t be any such election any time soon.
In report by Dada Ayokhai, monitored by this online platform, suggests that this stance must have taken the wind out of those pushing for an early conduct of council polls in Edo State
Governor Obaseki, made the disclosure in Owan East, Edo North district, during a closed door meeting with some selected party leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the axis.
He was in Owan East in continuation of his tour of the local government chapters of the party.
Addressing the patty leaders, the governor submitted that the councils, as presently constituted, are in a very unhealthy financial state and unable to meet their obligations as a result of a huge debt overhang to the tune of over N58bn.
Most of the debts, he added, were incurred from various sources but principally from the backlog of salary arrears owed workers, payment defaults to contractors, non remittances on advances and other sundry reasons.
The result of such a castrated financial position in which the councils have found themselves is the failure to deliver on their statutory mandates.
The governor noted that conducting any election into the local governments in such a precarious financial state would not only worsen an already bad situation but also make service delivery almost impossible.
He, however, offered some glimmer of hope to the aggrieved parties when he noted his administration is working round the clock to offset the debts and restore financial vibrancy to the councils in the shortest possible time, stating once this milestone is accomplished, the council polls would hold.
Other issues the governor was said to have canvassed at the meeting bordered on the ongoing PDP e- registration exercise, INEC voters registration, party structures as well as the processes to fill political offices in the state