The Anambra State Government, led by Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has announced plans to formalise leadership structures in the state’s markets by conducting regular elections for market executives, and has introduced an eight-year limit on tenure for those holding leadership positions.
The policy, unveiled at the conclusion of this week’s State Executive Council retreat, also includes reinstating full commercial activities across all markets on Mondays, ending the prolonged informal “sit-at-home” practice that had disrupted trade in recent years.
The directive was communicated to traders on Tuesday during a working visit to the Onitsha Main Market by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Trade and Markets, Chief Evarist Uba.
According to Uba, the new market electoral process will begin with elections for line executives and emphasise active participation by bona-fide traders. He said the eight-year term cap, applicable to line and zonal leaders, will ensure fresh leadership and accountability.
“The state government would soon start to conduct elections in the markets within the State, starting from market line executives,” Uba said. “Line and zonal leaders of any market who have served for more than eight years would not be eligible to recontest.”
Uba also stressed that only traders actively engaged in business within the markets would qualify to contest elective posts, explaining:
“Only traders who actively conduct business within the markets would be allowed to contest elective positions; he who wears the shoes knows where it pinches.”
On the Monday business directive, Uba said the government’s intent was to restore economic stability, safeguard traders’ livelihoods and sustain commercial growth across the state.
The Special Adviser warned that any market failing to comply with the new Monday trading regime risks closure, saying authorities would not tolerate any actions that undermine economic activity or public order.
Reacting to the announcement, Chief Humphrey Anuna, President of the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA), expressed appreciation for the state government’s engagement with market stakeholders. Anuna also commended the caretaker leadership of Onitsha Main Market for maintaining peace and stability.
At the same event, Chijioke Okpalaugo, Chairman of Onitsha Main Market, assured government officials of full compliance with the new directive. He pledged that the market would no longer observe the Monday sit-at-home order and thanked the administration for its continued support and the relative stability currently enjoyed by traders.
The state’s formal push towards democratic market leadership follows previous escalations in the enforcement of trading directives. In a related development, authorities had previously closed Onitsha Main Market for a week in response to traders’ non-compliance with earlier government directives on Monday operations.
Governor Soludo’s administration has framed these reforms as part of broader efforts to enhance economic activity, strengthen governance at the grassroots level and promote orderly commerce across Anambra’s bustling markets.
