KWHA’s refusal to obey court order lawless – PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party has said that the leadership of the Kwara State House of Assembly was being lawless for refusing to obey court orders.
Recall that AbdulRaheem Agboola of the Peoples Democratic Party, who was recently issued a certificate of return by INEC after an appeal court verdict sacking Abdulazeez Elewu of the All Progressives Congress, has been denied entrance into the state assembly complex for swearing in.
However, while reacting to this, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kola Shittu in a press conference with newsmen in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital today condemn the action of the state assembly, and further described the excuse tendered by the house leadership for not swearing in the lawmaker-elect as a “clear abuse of power and utter disregard for the rule of law”.
Shittu said, “The willful disobedience of a court order by the leadership of the Assembly is a clear abuse of power and utter disregard for the rule of law, which has become a hallmark of the APC government, both at the state and national level.
He described the excuse tendered by the house leadership for not swearing in the lawmaker-elect as “not only untenable, it is silly, unreasonable, laughable and embarrassing.
“As we all know, the Court of Appeal is the final arbiter for all litigations arising from National and State Assembly elections. To this end, the judgement of the Appeal Court declaring Agboola as winner of Ilorin South constituency election cannot be appealed nor can there be any stay of execution of the court judgment.
“It is even more embarrassing that the legislature that ought to be promoting the rule of law is the one treating valid court judgement with disdain. The action of the leadership of the Kwara State House of Assembly must be condemned by all, irrespective of political affiliation as this is a clear violation of court ruling and subversion of democracy.
“We know that a larger percentage of the current lawmakers in the House are naive, they should, however, not allowed themselves to be used as political pawns by the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq-led executive arm of government to perpetuate illegality and subvert the will of the people.
He notes that willful disobedience of court order by the leadership of Kwara Assembly amounts to recklessness and contempt of court, which undermines the country’s judicial system and the sanctity of the constitution.
He said, “We, therefore, ask the leadership of the Kwara State House of Assembly to respect the rule of law by admitting and swearing in Hon. Abdulraheem Agboola Jimoh as the duly elected representative of Ilorin South State constituency in the Assembly.”
