Kwara-based Civil Society Organization, Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), on Tuesday, filed a suit against the trio of the Kwara State Government, the Kwara State Governor and the Attorney General of Kwara State over the purported appointment of the Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) for the Local Government Councils in Kwara State.
Recall that The Informant247 reported that despite the Federal Government’s opposition to the appointment of a caretaker committee for the third tier of Government by state governors in the country and a Supreme Court judgment declaring such appointments as unconstitutional, the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has illegally appointed Transitional Implementation Committee chairmen to oversee the affairs of the Local Councils in the state.
ENetSuD, an organization reputed for its #FollowKwaraMoney activities, has however filed a suit against the Kwara state government through its Director of Legal Services for the organization, Lukman Raji Esq files.
According to a statement – signed by the Chairman of Media and Publicity Committee of ENetSuD, Saeed Tijani – made available to The Informant247, ENetSuD demands from the court, whether the Kwara State Governor can suspend or dissolve democratically elected local government councils by virtue of section 7(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
ENetSuD further asked in its suit, whether the Kwara State Government can appoint Transition Implementation Committees (TIC) of Local Governments in Kwara State by the virtue of the Nigerian constitution. Also demanded if Transition Implementation Committees (TIC) of Local Governments in Kwara State is recognized by any law.
The Civil Society Organization, therefore, seek that “a declaration that section 29 (1) to (5) of the Kwara State Local Government Law 2005 is in conflict with section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and thus null, void and of no effect whatsoever to the extent that it empowered Governor of Kwara State to dissolve the democratically-elected local government councils and replace them with Transitional Implementation Committees/ Caretaker or whatsoever name called appointed by the Governor or any other body.
ENetSuD further seeks that “A declaration that by virtue of the combined effect of section 7 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the provisions of sections 18 and 28 of the Kwara State Local Government Law 2005, the Governor of Kwara State (i.e the 2nd Respondent) had no power to dissolve the democratically-elected councils of the sixteen local governments of Kwara State.
ENetSuD said that the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) does not recognize the “purported” Transitional Implementation Committee/ Caretaker set by the government, stated that the creation or appointment of such is therefore unconstitutional.
ENetSuD stated that the state Government lack vires to release or use Kwara State resources to fund purported the Caretaker Committee, however, requests an order to set aside the purported appointment of the Transitional Implementation Committee by the Kwara State Government.
The Organization demanded an order from the court to direct the Kwara State Governor to refund back all fund, remunerations, and benefits already paid to members of the said Transitional Implementation Committees to the State Treasury, therefore, calls for the Local Government election to be conducted with immediate effect in accordance with section 7 (1) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).