There was a substantive ruling of the 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.
I understand that Wike is fighting heavily to stay relevant in the political terrain of Rivers State, but he and his co-travellers must learn to respect court rulings, not even from a lawyer or a member of the body of Benchers. Sincerely, he is an embarrassment to the bar.
One would have expected the Rivers State Assembly to understand that the amendment of Local Government Law No. 2 of 2024, which extends the tenure of the office of caretaker chairmen for the 23 local government chairmen, cannot stand legal scrutiny. Unfortunately, the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly is doing the bidding of Wike, who is hellbent on plunging the state into chaos and making it ungovernable for Fubara.
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Fubara is not my cup of tea (apologies to Gani Fawehinmi), but the law in this sense is that the tenure elongation is invalid, and so be it. It is now expected of the police institution to enforce the judgement of the court and make sure that those 23 caretaker chairmen do not invade the local government secretariat. I was expecting to have read that some arrests have been made overnight, most especially those who have been threatening fire and brimstone since yesterday brandishing weapons. The police should take charge and ensure that orderliness is enforced in the state.
A constitutional crisis was created in Rivers State the moment the State Electoral Commission could not conduct elections in local government areas. The composition of caretaker chairmen in the state by the previous administration is against the letter 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. 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.
So, the 23 ousted caretaker chairmen are fighting a lost cause because occupying that post in the first place amounts to illegality. And, as a matter of fact, they must be made to vomit every kobo they must have spent while illegally occupying that office. An aberration was committed with them occupying that seat. The issue in Rivers State is enough to spark a national discourse at the level of the Senate. Institutions such as the National Assembly must wake up to their oversight responsibilities of ensuring that the Constitution is not violently violated, which is what is happening in Rivers State.
Going forward, the National Assembly must stop the federal government from allocating funds to all 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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