Mohammed Shosanya
All the local government chairmen in Edo State who were suspended by the State House of Assembly on Tuesday,have insisted that they cannot be suspended or removed from office until they serve out their three years tenure for which they were elected.
Speaking at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Edo State Council in Benin, under the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Chairman, Orhionmwon Local Government Council who is the current Chairman of ALGON, Edo State, Deacon Newman Ugiagbe, said the 18 Council chairmen were duly elected.
He emphasized that their purported suspension by the House of Assembly on Tuesday, December 17, 20204, was a violation of court orders.
According to him, the tenure of the council chairmen who were sworn in on September 4, 2023, would only come to an end in 2025.
He added that their purported suspension from office by the State House of Assembly was unconstitutional, ultra vires, null and void,and of no effect whatsoever.
He recalled that the Edo State High Court had in suits filed against the state government and the House of Assembly ordered the defendants not to dissolve the democratically elected council executives on or before the expiration of their three-year tenure.
He further recalled that the association on December 17, 2024, served a reminder on the Speaker of the House, to inform him of another suit numbered B/3070s/2024, instituted against the governor,Okpebholo.
He noted that in the suit, the state High Court 2, granted the chairmen an interim order restraining the defendants from interfering with, obstructing, and disturbing the claimants of exercise of their constitutional rights over all assets and funds allocated to them from the Federation Account.
He added that the courts restrained the defendants from suspending, removing, redeploying, meddling, or in a manner interfering with them in the administration and management of their councils.
Ugiagbe also referred to a Supreme Court judgment in a case between the Attorney-General of the Federation and that of Abia State and 36 others where the apex court removed the powers of the 36 state governors and House of Assembly, or acting through their privies, to dissolve or interfere in local government administration or management by using state powers derivable from laws enacted by the House of Assembly or (anyhow so-called or executive orders/other actions (anyhow so-called).
“From the foregoing, the 18 Local government elected in the election of September 2, 2023, and sworn into office on September 4, 2024, remain the executive chairmen of our respective local government councils and we are going on with our constitutional responsibility as the chief executive officers of our councils.
“From the foregoing,it is given that the action of the Edo State House of Assembly on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, in response to the request from Governor Monday Okpebholo, suspending the chairmen/ vice chairmen is ultra vires and therefore a nullity because it is based on nothing in the eyes of the law. It is also a contempt against the orders of the courts,” he said.
Ugiagbe,however,called on security agencies, and other institutions of government saddled with the responsibility of enforcing law or order to protect all assets and buildings of the local government councils.
He requested the deployment of security personnel to all 18 Local government secretariats in defense of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is being allegedly impeded by the Edo State House of Assembly.
Ugiagbe noted that the deployment of security personnel would help to create an enabling environment for the smooth discharge of the functions for which they were sworn in as duly elected political office holders.
The Edo State House of Assembly had on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at the plenary suspended the 18 Local government chairmen and their deputies following a petition written against them by Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The governor had in the petition accused the council executives of insubordination and gross misconduct.
He alleged that the council chairmen refused to submit the financial account statements of their various local governments to the State Asset Verification Committee.
Speaking on behalf of the state government, the Edo State Commissioner for Justice and attorney General,Dr. Samson Osagie said that the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA) has exercised its powers in accordance with the provisions of the law, adding that it is within the rights of the 18 elected council chairmen to protest.
Osagie noted that the local council chairmen were not sacked but only suspended for two months to pave the way for investigation.
Osagie,who advised the 18 LGA chairmen to be law abiding, stated that after the two months suspension and investigation completed, anyone among them found without any problems would be returned to the office, saying “This government will not tolerate indiscipline or any act of brigandage by any tiers of government. “
