Traders to Soludo: We Don’t Need Caretaker Leadership In Onitsha Drug Market – Concerned People of Ogbogwu
By Oge Onyeanusi, Onitsha
Onitsha : Traders in the popular Bridge Head Drug Market in Onitsha, Anambra state, under the umbrella of Concerned People of Ogbogwu (CPO), has called on Governor Charles Soludo to stop appointing caretaker leadership in the market, since, according to the traders, the market is under the exclusive list of the federal government.
Speaking to newsmen on Sunday, September 10, in Onitsha, the Coordinator of Concerned People of Ogbogwu the group, Mr. Emmanuel Ozoemenam, flanked by Mr. Osita Sopuluchukwu and Mr. Ozioma Okeke, representing Lines Secretaries and Chairmen respectively, recalled that the market had, in 2020, during the regime of Governor Willie Obiano, obtained court judgement restraining the state government from appointing caretaker leadership in the market.
He said, “We’re calling on Governor Charles Soludo, who came into power through legitimate and elective procedures to allow traders in the Bridge Head Drug Market to organize election and elect their own leaders; because, the market is under the exclusive list of the federal government.
“The traders had wanted to go on a protest March or approach the law court again to seek redress, because, the state does not have the right to appoint caretaker leadership in the market.
“When the tenure of the caretaker executive under the chairmanship of Mr. Chukwulota Ndubisi expired sometime in May, 2023, traders in the market wrote to Governor Soludo through his Chief of Staff, Ernest Ezeajughi, for the state government to allow us elect our leaders ourselves, but there was no response from government till now.
“When Soludo came into power in 2021, he appointed caretaker leadership in our market, with the promise to conduct election in the market within one year. One year has come and gone, but nothing happened.
“The drug market is under the exclusive list of the federal government. It is only the federal government through the federal Ministry of Health that has the right to manage the affairs of the drug market. What the state is entitled to is the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which we always remit to the state coffers.”
The traders recalled that in 2019, when Governor Willie Obiano was in power, he appointed caretaker leadership in the market. So, the traders dragged him to court and, in 2020, obtained a judgement stopping appointment of caretaker leadership in that market.
The traders, therefore, told the Anambra government that the judgement is still subsisting, and that the market is under the exclusive list of the federal government, which they contended, should be managed by the federal government through the federal Ministry of Health.
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