The ousted local government council chairmen in Plateau State yesterday staged a protest to the police headquarters, where they accused the security personnel of working with Governor Simon Bako Lalong to subvert the rule of law.
There was heavy presence of police men at the entrance of local government council secretariats in compliance with the directives of Governor Lalong who dissolved councils.
The sacked chairmen, led by the former chairman of Mangu Local Government, Mr Caleb Mutfwang, described the action of the Governor Lalong as an “abuse of power”.
Mutfwang said a Federal High Court had granted them an order restraining the police from interfering with their official functions. He added that the order also directed the governor to maintain the status quo.
Speaking with newsmen after a closed door meeting with the embattled chairmen at the police command headquarters, CP Nasiru Oki, said the matter would be resolved soon.
Oki who said he was scheduled to have another closed door meeting with the governor to resolve the crisis amicably, appealed for calm.
Governor Lalong had on Monday stated that there was not going back on his decision to dissolve the councils, citing monumental corruption at the councils as part of his reasons for the dissolution.
Meanwhile, the plenary session of the Plateau State House of Assembly was said to have ended yesterday in confusion over the face-off between Governor Lalong and the ousted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled local government council chairmen.
Daily Trust gathered that the meeting ended in a rowdy session, following attempts by the Speaker, Mr Peter Azi, to read a proposed list of members of a transition committee sent by the governor against the earlier decision not to present the list during the executive session since the matter was pending before a court of law.
A former speaker, Istifanus Mwansat, told journalists that the speaker revisited the issue on the floor.
Mwansat said: “The place became very rowdy. Blows were not exchanged. But I can tell you that members spoke to one another in ‘unparliamentary’ languages.”
The lawmaker, who told journalists that the matter was later deferred, added that the issue had created mistrust among members.
The Plateau Assembly is divided between 13 PDP members and 11 All Progressives Congress (APC) members.