The Senate has asked the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, withhold statutory allocations to local government councils not democratically elected using Caretaker Committee Chairmen.
The Senate has condemned, in very strong terms, what it described as the arbitrary dissolution of democratically elected Local Government Councils in Benue and other states in Nigeria.
The Upper Chamber has urged the governor of Benue State to adhere to his oath of office to obey the rule of law and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Senate has called on Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State to review his dissolution of the elected councils and constitution of caretaker committees, asking him to reinstate the elected council executive forthwith.
Recall that about five months after the dissolution of elected local government council chairmen in Benue State, Governor Hyacinth Alia forwarded a list of 23 caretaker chairmen nominees to the state House of Assembly for screening and confirmation.
The resolutions of the Senate on Friday were a sequel to a motion titled “urgent need to halt the erosion of democracy: the dissolution of elected councils in Benue State, sponsored by the minority leader, Senator Abba Moro, PDP, Benue South.
Presenting the motion, Senator Moro said that the Senate “notes with dismay the dissolution of Democratically Elected Councils in Benue State,
“Also note that placing caretaker committees to replace elected councils is an aberration and alien to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”
According to him, the Senate is “aware that Section (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) guarantees a system of local government by Democratically Elected Councils.
“Also aware that it is the constitutional responsibility of every state to ensure the existence of Local Government Councils by law.
“Further aware that there are subsisting court rulings directing the Governor, the House of Assembly, their agents, privies, etc not to tamper with the tenure of the elected councils, and equally aware that the Governor/Government of Benue State have not appealed these judgments and that it is against the grain of the rule of law.”
In his contribution, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, APC, Edo North, who noted that truth has no political affiliation, said that he was in total support of the motion.
Oshiomhole said, “The Supreme Court had pronounced that state governors do not have the power to dissolve elected local government officials; I resisted pressure to dissolve elected officials of the local government as a governor.”
The former Edo State governor urged the Senate to prevail on the Minister of Finance not to release funds to any unelected local government officials.
On his part, Senator Victor Umeh, LP, Anambra Central, who seconded the motion, said that Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees that there shall be democratically elected officials of the local government areas.
Umeh, who noted that elected officials across all tiers of government take oaths of office and allegiance to uphold the constitution, said that the emasculation of elected local government officials and replacing them with a caretaker committee with the intent of taking over their funds from the Federation Account was a violation of the constitution.
He said that the parliament should rise to protect the laws it made by defending the constitution.
In his contribution, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South, who revealed that about 16 states in the country run their local governments through the caretaker system, emphasized that the best the Senate could do was to prevail with the Ministry of Finance, using its oversight powers to stop the release of funds to local government areas operating under the Caretaker Committee.
On his part, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, APC, Oyo North, proposed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should conduct local government council elections as the only way to tame the state governors.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said that it was worrisome that the current scenario was happening in a state controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that the party should avoid such practices.
He said that as governor, he conducted local government elections twice, suggesting that the nation could look in the direction of saddling the responsibility of conducting elections in local government areas to a designated body established by law.
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