The governor of Ebonyi State, Builder Francis Nwifuru, has been commended for encouraging full democratization of Ebonyi grassroots sector. This was revealed by Ebonyi State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon. Uchenna Stephen Igwe, in his Ndebor Ward 2, Ebonyi Local Government Area. Speaking to newsmen after casting his vote in his polling unit, Ndebor Ishieke Primary School Booth 001, Hon. Igwe who was in high spirit said: “I have just performed my civic duties by casting my votes for my preferred chairmanship and councilorship candidates. I am happy that Ebonyi people in the hinterlands are fully participating in the recruitment processes of their leaders.

“This is one of the two cardinal intangible but enduring gifts of the administration of Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru to Ebonyi people. The first is restoration of peace in every community, while the second is the total democratization of the grassroots sector beginning from the election of village leadership, through town union and traditional stool leadership to ward/local government leadership”.

Concluding, the commissioner added that: “The enforcement of the primacy of the ordinary people in the determination of who leads them has given vent to the mantra that power belongs to the people; and it has positioned Ebonyi masses in their proper position as king makers. This also contributes to the sustenance of the peace and security we enjoy in Ebonyi State – a state that presently occupies the enviable position of the most secure state in the federation. I give plaudits to Governor Nwifuru for truly involving the masses in the choice of their leaders.”

Governor Francis Nwifuru was notable for granting financial autonomy to local government councils in Ebonyi State long before the Federal Government judicial initiative which culminated in the Supreme Court verdict. In furtherance of Nwifuru’s grassroots democratization drive, the governor conducted local government elections early in his tenure in July 2024. The 2026 Ebonyi Local Government polls necessitated by the approaching expiration of the constitutional tenure of the councillors and local government chairmen in Ebonyi State is the second in the administration of Governor Nwifuru.