A court ruling in Abuja has stopped the federal government from sending money meant for Anambra's local governments (LGs) directly to the state government. 

This decision came after a lawsuit challenging Governor Soludo's use of appointed officials instead of elected leaders to run the LGs.

Valentine Ozigbo, a former governorship candidate, praised the court order. He described the use of appointees by Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to run the local government areas of the state as ‘corruption’. He argued that this practice denies LGs vital funds (estimated at 175 billion naira over two years) that could improve services like education, healthcare, and infrastructure in neglected areas.

Ozigbo emphasised that the money is separate from the state's budget and could be crucial for addressing the state's security issues. He commended the lawsuit's initiator and urged the state government to hold elections instead of fighting the order in court.

Ozigbo affirmed that the appointed committees are clearly unlawful, and defending them will be a waste of resources.He proposes using the funds for legitimate LG elections and threatened legal action from his party, the Labour Party, if the governor continued to contest the order without conducting elections