Cosmas Chukwu
Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Tuesday, passed into law the bill that will regulate the registration and administration of Town Unions in Enugu State and for other Connected Purposes, House Bill, No. 9, 2025 into law.
The bill when accented to by the governor will help regulate the activities of Town Unions in the state and curb frequent crisis that occur in many communities of the state.
Commenting on the merits of the bill before it was passed, leader of the House, Hon. Desmond Iloabuchi Aniagu, said that the bill would solve a lot of problems in the communities where at times the Town Union heads clash with the traditional rulers of their communities.
Aniagu said that the bill would bring peace and progress in the communities, asserting that, “where there is peace, progress will come to the area.”
“The bill will curb the crisis between Igwe and town Union heads. A lot of problems in the communities will be solved. I urge my colleagues to look into this bill critically because this will bring peace to many communities,” he said.
He also said that the law would checkmate the Ministry of Rural Affairs to ensure that peace reigns in various communities.
Because of the importance of the bill, the House quickly dissolved into committee of whole where they unanimously agreed that the Ministry of Rural Matters is having overbearing influence on the communities by setting up caretaker Committee’s where they should organize a peaceful elections to minimize crisis of leadership in the communities.
Many members who contributed to the debate on the Bill agreed that the tenure of Caretaker Committees should not exceed six months before election is conducted, pointing out that some caretaker committee members colluded with the Ministry of Rural Development to extend and perpetuate themselves in office.
The member representing Isi-Uzo State Constituency, Hon. Gabriel Lebechi Eze in his contribution had this to say. “The tenure of Caretaker Committees should be 3 to 6 months and nothing more. This will check the avarice of Caretaker Committees from extending their tenure,” he posited.
While passing the bill into law, the House resolved that the registration of Town Unions should be done bi-annually instead of yearly.
In a related development, the House passed into law “a bill for a law to Repeal the Gaming Law CAP 86 Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004 and to Enact a Law to Establish the Enugu State Gaming a d Lottery Commission to Regulate all Gaming and Lottery Activities in Enugu State and for Other Connected Purposes,”
The passage of the bill followed a report by the Joint Committee on Finance & Appropriation, Youth and Sports, Judiciary, Public Petitions, Ethics and Privileges presented on the floor of the House by Hon. Anthony Nwankwo, member representing Enugu North State
