By Nwauwa Ikedi Justice

An emerging standoff between the Oguta Local Government Area executive and the Imo State Government has sparked concerns of unrest in several communities, after the council chairman proceeded with plans to conduct Town Union elections in defiance of a statewide directive from Governor Hope Uzodimma.

Last week, Hon. Ifeanyi Nnani, Executive Chairman of Oguta LGA, initiated steps to organize elections in five autonomous communities, an action seen by observers as a direct challenge to the governor’s order prohibiting local government chairmen from interfering in Town Union affairs.

The controversy stems from earlier complaints by traditional rulers across the state, who alleged that some local government chairmen had been imposing proxies as Town Union executives in their domains.

In response, Governor Uzodimma convened a statewide stakeholders’ meeting on January 17, 2026, at the Eze Imo Palace. Citing the Imo State Town Union Law No. 6 of 2003, as amended, the governor lifted the existing ban on Town Union elections and ruled that the process should be conducted in line with each community’s established customs. He also transferred supervisory responsibility from local government chairmen to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, designating it the appropriate authority for such matters. The directive has since been credited with restoring relative peace across the state.

Despite this, sources indicate that Hon. Nnani’s administration has quietly begun conducting elections in villages within Oguta LGA without consulting the affected Town Unions or seeking clearance from the supervising ministry.

A letter dated last week and personally signed by the chairman to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs has since come to light. Rather than seeking approval, the correspondence served as notification of the council’s intent to proceed with elections in Ndiuloukwu, Mgbala, Uworie, and Mgbele autonomous communities—a move that appears to contradict the state government’s directive.

The emergence of the letter has alarmed traditional rulers, with reports of growing unease in the affected communities. Community leaders have vowed to resist what they describe as an unlawful intrusion into their internal affairs.

Attempts to reach Hon. Nnani for comment have so far been unsuccessful, as calls to his office went unanswered.

The Trade Union of Nigeria, TUC, has raised the alarm that the price of Premium Motor Spirit aka Petrol may climb to about N2,000 per litre if urgent measures are not taken to cushion the impact of rising global crude prices and the depreciating naira.

Speaking to newsmen on Thursday, April 9, the president of the TUC, Festus Osifo, called on the Federal Government to immediately deploy 60 percent of excess crude oil revenue above the 2026 budget benchmark to subsidise crude feedstock supplies to the Dangote Refinery and other modular refineries, a move it says will slash pump prices of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel within two weeks

“Today, comrades, we are seeing that the cost of petrol is edging towards N2,000 per litre depending on the part of the country that you are. Nigerian workers are already passing through excruciating pain as we speak.

The same way it is affecting transportation, it is also affecting manufacturing. The cost of diesel has also gone northward, meaning that the cost of production has increased. When production costs rise, the final price of goods on the shelves will also skyrocket.

If this continues unchecked, the inflation that we are currently celebrating as going downwards will reverse and start moving up again,” he stated.

Osifo outlined the proposal as an urgent intervention to cushion Nigerian workers from excruciating pain caused by petrol prices edging towards ₦2,000 per litre in some parts of the country

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, is set to get a vice president for the first time in his four-decade rule, following controversial constitutional changes backed by the parliament.

In a ‌joint session of the ruling party-dominated National Assembly and Senate, lawmakers voted 200 to 18 in favour, with four abstentions, to pass the bill.

The bill stipulates that the vice president will ​automatically assume the presidency if President Paul Biya dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated.

Biya, ​93, has led the Central African country since 1982 and is the world’s oldest serving head of state. Public discussion about ​his health is banned.

According to the legislation, a copy of which was seen by ​Reuters, the vice president will be appointed and dismissed by the president, serving for the remainder of the president’s seven-year term.

However, the interim leader would be prohibited from initiating constitutional changes or ​running in a subsequent election.

Prior to the amendment, the constitution designated the leader of the Senate to briefly take over in case the sitting president d!es or is incapacitated. An election would then be held.

The Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, which has six representatives in parliament, boycotted the vote. It had pushed for a revision in favour of the vice-president being jointly elected with the president, rather than appointed.

The party also sought a constitutional provision that reflects the linguistic split between English and French-speaking regions. The SDF wanted the nation’s top two posts to be shared between Cameroon’s two communities, which was the position before 1972.

“This constitutional reform could have been a moment of political courage, but it is nothing less than a missed historic opportunity,” SDF chairman Joshua Osih said.