The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has renewed its call on the Anambra State Government to conduct local government elections.

The president of the union in the state, Mr Jerry Nnubia, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Awka on Thursday.

Nnubia said the conduct of elections was a very crucial constitutional matter that should not be ignored or flouted.

He expressed regrets that in the past 12 years, elections into the local government system had not been conducted in the state, saying that the absence of democracy at the third tier of government had stalled grassroots development.

The president urged the government to address the issue of the council polls with the urgency it deserved, describing the appointment of caretaker committees to run the affairs of the 21 local government areas in the state as an aberration.

“This makeshift arrangement of appointing caretaker committees to run the affairs of the local governments does not augur well for the development of the rural areas.

“Appointment of caretaker committee members for the local governments is an aberration because you cannot expect caretaker committees to perform.

“We as a union and stakeholders have been clamouring for the conduct of local government polls for a long time because appointment of caretaker committees has not done any good to the system.

“We want to call on the state governor, Mr Peter Obi, to hasten the conduct of local government elections to make the system democratic and usher in development."