Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu state, on Friday, signed the amended Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) bill into law.

The governor also assented to the New Enugu City Development Authority and the Enugu State Geographical Information System bills into law.

The governor gave the assent to the bills before the Speaker Enugu State House of Assembly, Uche Ugwu, the state attorney general and commissioner for justice, Dr Kingsley Udeh and other government officials at the Government House, Enugu.

Speaking at the event, Mr Mbah extolled the collaboration between the executive and legislature in the state and the speedy passage of the bills by the lawmakers.

He said, “What we are witnessing here is the key legislative framework that would help us get closer to our destination.

“We want to thank the speaker and other members of the State House of Assembly for the way they provided support and keyed into our development agenda in the state,” he said.

The governor said the state recognised the importance of making sure that the state laws were in conformity with the provisions of the constitution and also the provisions of the Act passed into law by the National Assembly.

He described the ENSIEC law as a very important aspect for the state in pursuit of its development agenda and strengthening of local democracy in Enugu.

On the New Enugu City law, Mr Mbah said his government was very futuristic in the way they build and approach governance by thinking about tomorrow.

“Enugu has gone to encroachment level and since Enugu City has been created, there had not been any attempt to expand the city to accommodate more people.

“What we have witnessed today is a legal framework that allows future government to continue to expand the city as we now have a master plan of the new Enugu city.

“We cannot execute or implement all that is in this master plan, but at least there is a master plan for our next generation,” he stressed.

The governor added that the Enugu State Geographical Information System (GIS) law would create automated digital processes for a number of state services, starting with land.

This, he said, the state would achieve by setting up an agency managing the property information system.

“We are going to automate our governance processes and establish an e-governance portal,” he explained.

Addressing journalists on the development, the speaker said that signing the bills into law was a proactive way of making sure that the state had a new city competing with every other city globally and took care of population growth in the state.

On the changes in ENSIEC amendment law, Mr Ugwu said the chairman of the commission could now retire at 75 years, saying, “One can perform at 70 and 75, but once he/she crosses 75, diminishing returns set in”.

“So retirement at 75 is not a bad thing, and ENSIEC members who want to contest the election don’t have to leave ENSIEC five years before contesting the election,” he said.

The chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA), Uche Anya, added that the New Enugu City covered some parts of Enugu East, Nkanu East and West Local Government Areas.

(NAN)