The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) in Oyo state are currently at loggerheads over the directive by Attorney General and Minister of Justice that Governor Seyi Makinde should reinstate the sacked local government chairmen.
Governor Makinde immediately after his inauguration on May 29, removed the chairmen elected during the regime of the immediate past governor Abiola Ajimobi and since appointed caretakers for the councils.
But Malami in a letter to the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Oyewo Oyelowo,a professor dated 14 January 2020 asked the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde to reinstate elected local government chairmen in the State and dissolve the caretaker chairmen recently put in place.
In the letter,Malami said it is imperative that the state governor respects the ruling of the Supreme Court on the matter and reinstate the sacked administration at the third tiers of government in the state.
“The need to immediately disband all caretaker committee and restore democratically elected representatives to man the local governments has, therefore, become obligatory.”
Malami said in view of the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter that is binding on all 36 States of the Federation, “the common practice by some State Governors in dissolving elected local government councils is unconstitutional, null and void. So also any system of local government run by Caretaker Committee are outright illegal and unconstitutional.”
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“To this end, I hereby request all their Excellencies, State Governors and Speakers of State House of Assembly, who are currently acting in breach of the provisions of Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and also acting in disobedience of the Supreme Court judgment highlighted above to immediately retrace their step by ensuring compliance with the above in the overall interest of the rule of law and our democracy. The need to immediately disband all caretaker committee and restore democratically elected representatives to man the local governments has, therefore, become obligatory.”
But, Oyo PDP said Malami Lacks Constitutional Power to Assist Sacked Chairmen In Foisting Illegality while the broom party in the pace setter state applauded the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over his intervention on the controversies surrounding the sack of elected local government council officials and their purported replacement with appointed caretaker committees by Governor Seyi Makinde.
The umbrella party in a statement described the letter sent by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to Governor Seyi Makinde as unexpected of the number one legal officer of the Federation.
In the statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Akeem Olatunji in Ibadan, the state capital said “rather than poke nose into the internal affairs of Oyo State, Malami should be more concerned about Federal Government’s various disregard of judiciary pronouncements and lack of respect for rule of law”.
According to Olatunji, “Nigeria as a federation is governed by constitution not by a decree fiat and it’s not anybody’s fault that the drafters of Nigerian Constitution put the control, legislation and supervision of the local governments under the purview of the State governments through the various State House of Assemblies”.
The PDP also alleged that the AGF, Abubakar Malami, and his APC cohorts are trying to achieve purely 2023 political agenda, which according to him, similar to attempt by former Attorney General, Akin Olujimi, SAN, to stop Federal allocations meant for Lagos State through executive fiat.
The statement further reads, : “I want to reiterate that nowhere in the 1999 Constitution is the President or his agents given the power to withhold funds due to States or Local Government Councils or even the National Judicial Council by virtue of the provision of Section 162 subsection (9) thereof. In other words the President has no supervisory power over the state and the local government councils.
“Nigeria as a country is practising federalism not a Unitary system of government, hence the needs for separation of power and avoid ridiculous action that can jeopardize the image of Nigeria within the comity of Nations.
“Furthermore, the Supreme Court judgement delivered by Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, CJN, on 10th of December 2004 stated clearly that pursuant to section 162 (5) of the Constitution; if the President or any of his agents has any grievances or whatsoever with any tier of government, he should go to court.
“Oyo State PDP as the ruling party is advising APC in Oyo State to look for their savior elsewhere as Mr Abubakar Malami is not constitutional empowered to assist them in foisting illegality on the good people of Oyo State at the grassroots level.
“Hence, the Caretaker Chairmen across the 33 Local Councils and 35 LCDAs are enjoined to face the herculean task before them and disregard the former illegal Chairmen who are merely seeking attention”, the statement added.
However, Oyo APC in a statement issued on Tuesday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Assistant Publicity Secretary, Ayobami Adejumo, the party regretted that the PDP administration in the state was bent on bringing the third tier of government down on its kneels for no just reasons than dirty politicking.
“It is unfortunate that the Pacesetter State had to be in the news again for the wrong reasons despite spirited efforts from various stakeholders who pleaded with the governor to toe the line of rationality and constitution by allowing council officials, who had been in office a year before him, serve out their three year term. But he preferred governance at the grassroots level to be grounded to a halt than work with members of other political parties apart from his own PDP.
“With this latest development, we have been made to know that Nigeria is still blessed with competent, dutiful and courageous individuals who are ready to act right in any situation. The Minister of Justice has just demonstrated the zeal to safeguard constitutional democracy and the sanctity of the Court since the nation’s Supreme Court had also given a verdict that no state governor or State House of Assembly has the power to sack elected council officials before the expiration of their tenure.
“It is only a politically naive person that would misinterpret the intervention of the nation’s Chief Law Officer or encourage Gov. Makinde to waste any time further to comply and allow peace to reign in the state. There should not be a question of party affiliation where good governance is prioritized and it is on this note we are calling on the concerned council officials to cooperate with the governor.
“On our part as a progressive party, we want the elected council officials to hit the ground running again. We are not oblivious of the fact that the grassroots has suffered tremendously in the last eight months and it is now imperative for the reinstated officials to do the needful in their respective local government areas or local council development areas as soon as they return to office any moment from now.
“Now that the Presidency has performed to expectations by putting relevant stakeholders on notice, it is important for the PDP government of Makinde to join hands with all security agencies to ensure peaceful take over of general administration of all the 33 LGAs and 35 LCDAs across the state while they are put on their toes to deliver good governance as desired by all and sundry.
“As a matter of fact, we are already warming up for another local government election in the second quarter of next year (2021) and we are urging other registered political parties in the state, particularly the PDP, to prepare well for the same exercise which is expected to prepare the mind of the citizenry for the 2023 general elections.” APC concluded.
