There is a substantive ruling of State High Court, Port Harcourt, last month, nullifying the tenure extension for the 23 local government chairmen of Rivers State and declaring the local government law No. 2 of 2024 invalid. The Court of Appeal in its ruling also urged both parties to maintain the status quo i.e. the council chairmen should adhere to the High Court’s ruling until the court decides their fate on July 20 which is the adjourned date.
One would have expected the Rivers State Assembly to understand that the amendment of the Local Government Law No. 2 of 2024 which extends the tenure of office of caretaker chairmen of the 23 local government chairmen cannot stand legal scrutiny.
I am not a Fubara’s supporter, but the law in this sense is that the tenure elongation is invalid and so be it. It is now expected of the police to enforce the judgment of the court and make sure that those 23 caretaker chairmen do not invade the local government secretariats. The police should take charge and ensure that orderliness is enforced in the state.
A constitutional crisis was created the moment the State Electoral Commission could not conduct elections into local government areas. The composition of caretaker chairmen in the state by the previous administration is against the letters of the constitution. In fact, it is pathetic that local government administration is now at the mercy of state governors who now see it as a platform for compensation. Even in instances where elections are held, it is always filled with crass irregularities whereby the candidates of the governor take it all.
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The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) recognises local government as a tier of government, hence, its independence should not be a subject of debate for any reason.
Fubara replacing caretaker chairmen with another set of caretaker chairmen points to him compounding the problem. As it is today, Section 7 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) guarantees that the local government councils across the country must be run by democratically elected heads. By implication, there is no official of the local government to be recognised by law or anyone if they are not democratically elected.
Going forward, the National Assembly must stop the federal government from allocating funds to all the 23 local government areas in Rivers State until an election is conducted. As a matter of fact, the federal government must withhold allocations to all the local government areas in the country where we have caretaker chairmen. Caretaker committees are illegal and a gross violation of the Constitution.
Kazeem Olalekan Israel writes from Ibadan, Nigeria
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