By Miracle Ogunde
A lawyer and a human rights activist, Tope Temokun, has described the inaugurated local government transition committee by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as illegal.
According to him, the committee “is illegal and it is replacing illegality with illegality.”
Temokun made his position in a press release made available to Starnews NG on Friday, 11th July, 2024.
He said, “Any other body, committee or whatever name so-called, constituted to oversee the affairs of the local governments, other than democratically elected body, is a nullity to the extent of its conflict with the clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Any other body, committee or whatever name so-called, constituted to oversee the affairs of the local governments, other than democratically elected body, is a caretaker committee in disguise, no other name and it has been notoriously condemned and rejected by the people and the court across state boundaries,” the lawyer said.
Speaking further, Temokun emphasized that “A system of Local Government by democratically elected Local Government Councils is what the constitution recognises and guarantees and any State Governor that fails to conduct Local Council election is in breach of the constitution.
“Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended) provides thus:
The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.
“In the same vein, Section 1(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended) provides thus:
(2) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
These laws are written in English “language, our lingua franca and they are very simple to read even for the barely literate.
He also challenged the rationale behind the decision, stating that “Governor Aiyedatiwa owes the people many explanations on this new path of deliberate illegality he has chosen to toe and should address the people why he is building the new foundation of Ondo State government on a notorious illegality. He should tell the people if he had demanded explanations from the State Independent Electoral Commissions, ODIEC, why it is postponing elections into the local councils and he should tell us the answers he got. He should explain to the people of Ondo state if ODIECs postponement of election is not a charade, a scam and an arrangement to create a justification for this aberration,” the activist said.
“More questions. What is the duty and timeline of this transition committee? It is sad that people just take all sorts of appointment, once it’s coming from the government, otherwise, the yesterday’s short-lived jubilation of those appointed into the ill-motivated, ill-structured and ill-fated LCDAs created by the governor’s predecessor which turned to empty hope to the celebrants within few months should have taught any man with a brain a lesson why he should not allow any government to turn him or her to an object of ridicule before the people. If you are not paid any remuneration or entitlement or allowance, you cannot even go to court, because in the eyes of the law you do not exist. The same government that appoints you will be the same government that will invoke that jurisprudence against you to shatter your hope of redress.
“The governor should be careful in his eclectic choice of political tutorials from experienced veteran violators of the constitution who ruled without elected government at the local councils. That system is no longer fashionable. Its receiving knocks, condemnation from the people and the court at every opportunity.
“This is uncreative, very uncreative. Why resorting to a stale trick to govern people who are already wise?”
He concluded.
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