Lagos State Civil Society Coalition says the House of Assembly overreached its legislative powers with the purported suspension of Jelili Sulaimon, the chairman of Alimosho local government, describing several of the lawmakers as “lawbreakers.”
In a statement on Thursday, the coalition said the action of the Lagos parliament and its speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, “is a direct assault on local government autonomy.”
The statement was signed by Shina Loremikan of Campaign Against Impunity and Tobi Johnson of Campaign for Democracy.
“It is important to emphasise that while the Lagos State House of Assembly holds the powers to create laws for the administration of local government councils, these powers do not extend to interfering in areas that the Constitution explicitly reserves for local government. The management and regulation of markets, for example, are matters that fall squarely within the constitutional jurisdiction of local government councils,” the coalition said.
The group specifically condemned the attempt to justify the parliament’s action by its member, Stephen Ogundipe, chairman of the Committee on Information, Strategy and Security.
“Hon. Ogundipe’s remarks, which attempt to justify the Assembly’s interference in local government functions by invoking Sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution, betray an alarming disregard for the actual intent of these provisions.
“Sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution are explicitly designed to protect and enhance the autonomy of local government councils, ensuring their ability to manage their affairs without undue interference. The Assembly, as Hon. Ogundipe suggests, cannot supplant these constitutional provisions with its own willful interpretation aimed at exerting control over local government operations.
“These sections do not, and cannot, be interpreted as giving the State House of Assembly tyrannical powers to control or override the functions of local governments,” the group said.
According to the coalition, the Lagos parliament has no power to hire and fire a local government chair.
It added that the legislature’s functions do not include disregarding the law and twisting it to suit the “selfish and sinister interests of members of the legislature.”
“Lawmakers are not lawbreakers. Unfortunately, Hon. Ogundipe has shown the world that members of the Lagos State House of Assembly are simply lawbreakers of the worst kind,” the group said.
(NAN)
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