Despite the Federal Government’s opposition to the appointment of caretaker committee for the third tier of Government by state governors in the country and a Supreme Court judgment declaring such appointments as illegal and unconstitutional, the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has set in motion the process for the appointment of caretaker chairmen to oversee the affairs of the Local Councils in the state.
‘Investigation with no outcome’
The Governor had in June 2019 suspended the chairmen elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party from office for six months following allegations of financial misappropriation.
Upon the expiration of the suspension in December 2019, AbdulRazaq extended it by another six months.
He premised the decision on an ongoing investigation of the council bosses by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a subsisting resolution of the House of Assembly.
“The extension comes on the heels of the yet-to-be-concluded probe into the alleged financial infractions of the council heads and their legislative committees by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),” a statement by his chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, in June, reads. November 28
However, 17 months after the suspension and commencement of the investigation, neither the antigraft body nor the state assembly has made public resolutions of their respective findings.
Also, the governor is yet to reinstate the suspended council bosses barely 7 days to the expiration of their tenures.
‘Race for caretaker c’ttee’
Meanwhile, THE INFORMANT247 has gathered that the governor has directed party stakeholders, loyal to him, to nominate candidates to be appointed as caretaker chairmen, vice-chairmen, among other positions, across the sixteen local government areas in the state as the tenure of the suspended officials round up in a few days.
According to sources, who pleaded not to be named, the governor requested stakeholders in each of the sixteen councils to conduct screenings exercise for interested individuals and submit names of consensus candidates.
“Yes, the governor asked us to submit names for TIC chairmen, but seriously, it has not been easy, especially in Ilorin West and South,” a party chieftain who spoke on condition of anonymity told THE INFORMANT 247, “I heard stakeholders in Kwara North are doing well, no much fightings. But I can also confirm for Asa LG as well, just heard they’re having issues as well.”
THE INFORMANT247 had earlier reported that a meeting was held at the Party secretary, Mustapha Ishowo’s house along Benin road in Adewole, Ilorin on Thursday where stakeholders — loyal to the governor in Ilorin West, the most populated local government area in the state — at the meeting were not able to reach an agreement. The meeting postponed till 3 PM on Friday fixed for the same venue was however boycotted by some party stakeholders, also loyal to the governor.
Caretaker committees illegal, unconstitutional — AGF
In January 2020, The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, had asked state governors operating caretaker committees at local government level to immediately disband such committees and restore democratically elected representatives.
According to Malami, caretaker committees were outrightly illegal and unconstitutional as they amount to a breach of the provisions of Section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended).
This is as he described the practice of some state governors dissolving elected local government councils as unconstitutional, null and void and continued disobedience of the Supreme Court judgment of 9th December 2016 in the case of Governor of Ekiti State & Ors vs Prince Sanmi Olubunmo & 13 Ors.
Malami, in a letter dated 14 January 2020, reference number HAGF/OYO/2020/Vol.I/I. entitled, “Unconstitutionality of Dissolution of Elected Local Government Councils and Appointment of the Caretaker Committee: The Urgent Need for Compliance with Extant Judicial Decisions”, addressed to Oyo state Attorney-General, Professor Oyewo Oyelowo, pointed that the request for the dissolution of the committee was in upholding the rule of law and not hindering the much-needed grassroots development at local government level.
The letter read, in parts: “The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation in line with the constitutional role as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation under Section 150(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) has noted with dismay the continued non-adherence by some state governors and state houses of assembly to the provisions of the Section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) as it relates to the existence, administration and control of local government councils in Nigeria.
“This unpleasant development, without doubt, is hindering the much-needed grassroots development expected to be put in place by the third tier of government.
“It is apt to make reference to the provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended) under section 7(1) which states 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.’
“It is to be noted that the decisions of the Court of Appeal, which underscored the supremacy of the constitution over any other law, have been affirmed by the Supreme Court in Governor of Ekiti State & ORS V. PRINCE SANMI OLUBUNMO & 13 ORS (APPEAL NO: SC 120/2013) in a judgment delivered on 9th December 2016, wherein His Lordship, Chima Centus Nweze, JSC sated in the leading judgment at PP. 28 & 29 thus:
“Having thus guaranteed the system of local government by democratically-elected local government councils, the constitution confers a toga of sacrosanctity on the elections of such officials whose electoral mandates derive from the will of the people freely-exercised through the democratic process. Put differently, the intendment of the constitution is to vouchsafe the inviolability of the sacred mandate which the electorate, at that level, democratically-donated to them.
“Simply put, therefore, the election of such officials, into their offices and their tenure is clothed with constitutional force. They cannot, therefore, be abridged without breaching the constitution from which they derive their force.
“In view of the final decision of the Apex court which is binding on all the 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 systems of local government run by caretaker committees are outrightly illegal and unconstitutional.
“To this end, I hereby request all their excellencies, state governors and speakers of state houses 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 steps 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 committees and restore democratically elected representatives to man the local governments has, therefore, become obligatory.
“I hereby request that you take positive steps to ensure compliance in your state accordingly. In the coming days, Mr President and other relevant agencies will be advised further on compliance measures that should be taken in the national interest.”
Supreme court forbade appointment of caretaker c’ttees
In the judgment delivered on December 9, 2016, the Supreme Court had voided laws enacted by states’ Houses of Assembly that empowered governors to sack elected local government chairmen and councillors and replace them with hand-picked administrators.
In the unanimous judgment of five justices, the Supreme Court described the sacking of elected local government administrators as “executive recklessness” that should stop immediately.
The judgment by the five-man panel, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, was given in an appeal over the dissolution of the 16 local government executives in Ekiti State by Dr. Kayode Fayemi during his first term as governor.
The Supreme Court, in faulting the law purportedly relied on by Fayemi to dissolve the local government administration, held that Section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the governor to dissolve local government councils, whose tenure was yet to expire, violated section 7(1) of the Constitution from which the state House of Assembly derived the power to enact the local government law.
Justice Centus Nweze, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the tenure of the local government councils could not be abridged without violating the supreme constitutional provisions.
Gov. AbdulRazaq’s spokesperson keeps mum
Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, refused to answer questions sent to him via text message by THE INFORMANT247. He also didn’t pick calls put across to his telephone line.
PDP calls for election
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the State had, through a press statement by its spokesperson, Tunde Ashaolu, called on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to start the process of conducting local government elections in the state.
The opposition party also warned the governor against appointing caretaker committees for the councils, stressing that such action is unconstitutional, undemocratic, null, and void.
The statement partly read, “It is public knowledge that the tenure of the suspended chairmen of all the 16 local government councils in Kwara State will expire on the 28 of November 2020. We, therefore, call on Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to immediately initiate the process to conduct elections that will usher in new chairmen, in accordance with the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Local governments are the closest to the people and are pivotal to guaranteeing effective governance and even development in any State. It is therefore important that the councils are run by persons with proven capacity, competence, integrity, and are trusted by the people to do the job. The councils must not be left in the hands of charlatans that will be appointed by the governor and will only be there to do his biddings.
“The Kwara PDP on this note, warns Governor Abdulrazaq against appointing caretaker committee chairmen for the councils. It is unconstitutional, undemocratic, null and void, as ruled by the Supreme Court. The Court had declared that any local government council run by a caretaker committee is illegal and unconstitutional.”a