Onitsha Bridge-Head Traders Seek Disbanding Of Caretaker Leadership

Traders in the popular Bridge-Head Drug Market in Onitsha, Anambra State have appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to disband the caretaker committee leadership in the market.

The traders asked the governor to allow them elect their true leaders.

The traders under the aegis of Concerned People of Ogbogu (CPO) said the management of drug markets in Nigeria is under the exclusive list of the federal government, and that the Onitsha drug market is not an exception.

The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Mr Emmanuel Ozoemebam and co-signed by Mr Osita Sopuluchukwu and Mr Ozioma Okeke, representing lines secretaries and chairmen respectively, said the traders had in May 2023, written to Governor Soludo over their concerns in the market; but that the governor ignored them.

They warned that if within a reasonable time frame the state government refused to permit them to elect the market leadership themselves, they would be left with no option than to go to court to oust the existing caretaker leadership.

The statement reads, “In 2020, during the regime of Governor Willie Obiano, the Bridge Head Drug Market obtained court judgement restraining the state government from appointing caretaker leadership in the market on the ground that the market should be controlled by the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Health.

“The traders, by this statement, are also calling on Governor Charles Soludo, to allow traders in the market to organize election and elect their own leaders; because, the market is under the exclusive list, and Anambra State does not have the authority to appoint caretaker leadership in the market.

“Governor Soludo is, by this statement reminded that when he came to power, he appointed caretaker leadership in the Bridge Head Drug Market, and promised that election would be organized in the market within one year. One year has come and gone, but nothing happened.

“What we owe the state is the IGR accruing from the market, and we always remit same to the state coffers.”