Out of 11 caretaker committee members, 10 are from Anambra, only one person from Imo state, and he does not have a shop in the market . This man is not even a trader in the market. If there must be caretaker committee, why can’t they balance it? Seven from Anambra two from Enugu and Ebonyi state and also two from Imo and Abia states respectively
SIR CHUKA ONYEIZUGBE was Special Adviser to former governor of Anambra State, CHIEF WILLIE OBIANO on political matters. He is also a trader at the Electronic Market Onitsha and he is from Aguata local government council of Anambra State.
In this interview with MADUAKO IGBOKWE, he speaks on government imposition of caretakers committee on Electronic Dealers Association Onitsha EDAO and why it is wrong to have interim executives in the market.
Last week Anambra State government inaugurated a caretakers committee for EDAO, even as a private market, what is your take?
Government has the right to come into the private market, if there are issues. They can come in because they are in charge of security, but if there are no problem, they have no need to interfere with operations of the market.
In this our market, we have no problem and the government action is comparable to a situation, where after somebody had built a four storey building and government will tell the owner who will be his tenants. Government told us , that there would not be election till March next year.
I thought, the policy of government on who become leaders should only be limited to government markets and not privately owned ones. We contributed money to buy this land and we also contributed money to build this market. This market was built by private individuals and government did not add a Kobo to build this market. The only thing government can do in this market is to just come in and collect taxes and levies.
You mean that government has no right to decide on the operations of the market?
I did not say government has no right ,they are the chief security officers of the state. If there are problems government can come in but if there are no problems, government has no need to come in and interfere with the operations of the market. Honestly, there is no problems in the market, things are working out fine.
The only problem is that the immediate past president Izuchukwu Okoye did not want to conduct election in the market due to his selfishness. He did not want to hand over to anybody because of the money he was making in the market. He was even cheating the government and government never knew why he is fighting to remain in power directly or indirectly by all means.
He collects revenue for over 600 shops and will only account for about 200 shops to government, same in security and sanitation. He was making so much money from the market. He sold all the spaces in the market, spaces that were meant for ventilation. He also sold the transformer in the market and the overhead tanks. If there is fire outbreak in the market ,there will not be any help unless from outside. Even the caretakers committee government imposed on this market, was the same Okoye who brought over 80 percent names through the commissioner for commence and industry. The past executives tenure had expired, why put caretakers committee instead of conducting election?
Even in the caretakers committee, he brought in some of the past executives. All the main positions in the caretaker committee were cornered by him. He brought the chairman, the secretary, financial Secretary , treasurer and others. Who is deceiving who in the market?
Are you suggesting that government instead of caretakers committee, should look into the records of past president in relation to revenue he remitted to government from the market?
If the government ventures into checking what Okoye did in the market in relation to revenue accruable to government, government will cry like a baby. He did that in connivance with the former president – general of Anambra state Amalgamated Traders Association AMATA because he was the person imposing executives in Anambra markets.
The one that pained me most is that I am from Anambra,99 percent of those they appointed in the so called caretakers committee are from Anambra alone.
They should have balanced it, if members of the market had agreed to have caretaker committee. Enugu is not represented in the committee. In this market Enugu people are more than the Anambra people ,they are majority in shops owners and they are also majority in numbers.
This market was also built by an Imo man one Joseph Ude now late. When he was building this market our Anambra people never believed it would be successful. But when the Anambra people saw the project was successful, they teamed up with Enugu people to form what they called UPF to fight Ude.
After Ude, the next person that became the president of market was an Anambra man and he messed up the whole market and it was the same Izuchukwu Okoye who messed up the process with the man.
The same Okoye who sold our rods in the market that we wanted to use to complete some projects. He also sold all the cable wires we wanted to use and mount security cameras in the market.
He also converted the market to all comers affairs for traders from other markets in Onitsha to come in and dump all kind of goods inside. Nobody knows what kind of goods they are bringing into our market. He just turned the market into warehouse where traders from others market store both legal and illegal products.
Again, imagine, Okoye going to court to do affidavit that this market should be controlled by government, just for him to put caretakers committee. Government knew that this market is a private market and they cannot impose caretaker committee in the market. I believe that it was because of the affidavit that government came in and imposed the caretakers committee.
Did the former president consult the market members before doing the affidavit?
He never consulted anybody in the market, he did it alone . Of course, nobody in the market would have allowed that to happen in the market because everyone knows, this is a private market.
It might interest you , during Willie Obiano tenure government tried to put a caretakers committee in the market and court order stopped it after two weeks. There is a subsisting court order that says that government cannot put caretakers committee in the market and it has not been appealed against or vacated by the government. It was because of the court order during Obiano that the caretakers committee did not last.
What do you think is hunting Izuchukwu Okoye?
Alot of things are hunting Izuchukwu Okoye in the market. He has nothing in the market. He is just here to make money in the market, cheating both the government and traders.
Do you think ,the traders should accept the caretakers committee in the market?
Nobody is ready to recognize the caretakers committee. Even if the commissioner wants to put a caretaker committee, he should have first addressed the market and give reason for settings up caretakers committee.
You don’t just wake up from the comfort of your office and draw a list of caretakers committee and impose it on the people in the market. I did not want to go to the commissioner to tell him the true happening in the market because if I go there some people will accuse me of bribing him.
As far as I am concerned, the caretakers committee put in this market is forced on us and people are resisting it. However, there is a recent court order to maintain status quo and I don’t know why the order is not obeyed. As I speak to you, many people are in the court challenging the caretakers committee set up in the market.
For there to be peace, the Commissioner should come here and address the traders and stop listening to those who go to his office telling him lies about the market. Even if it is extremely necessary to establish caretaker committee ,he should call all the aggrieved persons in the court and the presidential aspirant and make peace with them so that that those in court will withdraw their cases.
If it is generally agreed that we should have caretaker committee, he should have put all the presidential aspirants in the committee and pick others to head the committee. You cannot put all the aspirants in the committee and just leave only one person out.
Out of 11 caretaker committee members,10 are from Anambra, only one person from Imo state, and he does not have a shop in the market . This man is not even a trader in the market. If there must be caretaker committee, why can’t them balance it? Seven from Anambra two from Enugu and Ebonyi state and alsotwo from Imo and Abia states , yet Anambra has majority in the market.
When did the tenure of the last executive expire and when did they impose the caretaker committee?
The tenure of the former president expired on 14th July 2022. The state government imposed the caretakers committee on us ,I think on 29th July 2022. We are brothers from the same zone we must do things together. I am disappointed how the caretakers committee was dominated by one state.
I advised that the governor to reverse the caretakers committee and call those in court to withdraw their cases for discussion. He should fix date for election in the market. This is private market and not Anambra State owned market, so government cannot come here and decide who becomes our leaders.
Did people complain to government about the activities in the market?
Yes, alot of people wrote petitions against Izuchukwu Okoye and the petitions were sent to the commissioner immediately he was inaugurated. The petitions were about the president attitudes in the market in relation to not wanting to conduct election .
I want to believe that the governor Prof. Charles Soludo is not aware of what the Commissioner is doing in the market . They are not feeding him with right information in the market. If he is aware of the happening in the market ,he would not have authorized the imposition of the caretakers committee in the market. I know that Soludo believes in fairness and justice as well as due process.
