Isaac Shobayo reports the brewing war between the Jonah Jang administration in Plateau State and members of the opposition parties, arising from the recent sack of chairmen of the local government councils in the state by the governor.THE sack of the 17 local government council chairmen in Plateau State on the premise of the expiration of their tenures has opened another chapter of political controversy in the state. Some of the affected chairmen have come out openly to condemn the dissolution, describing it as a rape of democracy and an injustice.It would be recalled that local government election was conducted throughout the state in November 2008 and those who won the election in the 17 local government areas were sworn-in on 21 January, 2009 due to the crisis that trailed that of the Jos North Local Government Area. Those aggrieved approached the courts for redress. The outcome of the litigation instituted by the aggrieved candidates in the election led to the late swearing-in of the chairmen of Langtang North, Langtang South, Wase, Bokkos and Mikang local government areas of the state. The general expectation in certain quarters was that those who were sworn in late should have their tenure counted from the date they took their oaths of office.However, the expectations of the chairmen in this category were dashed last week when the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Shedrach Best, in a letter entitled 'End of Tenure of Local Government Council' to the Commissioner, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, notifying the commissioner of the end of tenure of the chairmen and their councilors, also conveyed the directive of Governor Jonah Jang that all local government chairmen should halt all major expenditures immediately.The affected local government chairmen refused to take the matter lying low; they posited that since they were elected to be in office for three years, the state government ought to have allowed their tenures to run the full circle of three years and, at the same time, fixed staggered dates for the expiration of their tenure, like the governors of Bayelsa, Adamawa, Kogi, Rivers states, among others, did.Irked by the development, a political pressure group, 'Taroh Lovers of Democracy,' said the termination of the tenure of the affected chairmen was an injustice which deserved the condemnation of all. Speaking through its coordinator, Sunday Luggard, a lawyer at a press briefing in Jos, he charged the governor to tow the line of the Independent National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) by advising the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to hold staggered election to enable those sworn in late to complete their tenures.Lugard pointed out that in the case of the Langtang North Local Government Area, there was a subsisting judgment in favour of Honourable Brian Dadi, declaring that his term of office of three years commenced in December 2009, from the date he took his oath of allegiance and oath of office. In a similar vein, another group, 'The Democrat, in Bokkos Local Government Area, led by a former Commissioner of Finance in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Agati, also frowned at the dissolution. Addressing newsmen, the former commissioner said a precedent had been set by the Supreme Court of Nigeria that an elected person must serve his full term from the date he was sworn in.'Dissolving the other councils whose chairmen took office three years ago is within the ambit of the law. But what about those that took their oath of office, after this set, in Wase, Langtang North, Langtang South, Mikang and Bokkos local government councils'Why is the same law being applied differently for them' We believe that source for the goose is source for the gander. We, therefore, make a strong objection to this act of the governor which we see as a provocation. We will not accept it because it illegal,' he said.The raging controversy notwithstanding, the state government, on Thursday, forwarded the names of transition committee members to oversee the affairs of the 17 local governments areas in the state, despite protests in some of the local government areas, to the state House of Assembly. Four members of the outgoing local government chairmen, including those of Quan'pan, Wase, Shendam and Barakin-Ladi and Jos North, have their names on the list.Piqued by the development, two of the aggrieved chairmen, Brian Dadi of Langtang North Local Government Area and his Bokkos counterpart, Iliya Amagon, elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), approached the High Court in Jos and obtained an injunction restraining the state government from sacking them.Opposition parties in the state viewed the development as a political ploy to emasculate them ahead of the local government elections. The general belief in Nigeria is that an incumbent office holder stands a better chance of winning an election than any other candidate, no matter the dismal performance of the incumbent. Hence, the claim by the opposition that the dissolution was to disorganise them before the proper election.However, the state government, through the Special Adviser on Media to the governor, Honourable Pam Ayuba, dismissed the position of the embattled chairmen, saying that Governor Jang was not as heartless as they were trying to portray him. He charged those in the forefront of the agitation to approach the state House of Assembly for proper explanations before jumping into the conclusion that the dissolution was a political gimmick to win the affected local government areas in the coming local government elections for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).He said, the local government law which brought them to office had been repealed and the governor was empowered by the state House of Assembly, through an enabling law, to dissolve the councils. He asked what was the point of staying in office when there would be no legislative arms of the councils in place. 'The governor is not lawless and strongly believe in the rule of law and due process. This gives credence to why they were sworn in after the verdict of the court of law in their favour. The governor is operating within the confines of the law,' he said.To the consternation of the people, the governor, over the weekend, inaugurated Local Government Management Committees for the 17 local government areas, thus foreclosing the moves to stop the inauguration. Analysts in the state perceived the government action as a ploy to thwart the enforcement of the injunction obtained by both former chairmen of Langtang North and Bokkos local government restraining the governor from swearing in the management committees. The claim within the government circles was that no injunction had been served on the government concerning the matter. The governor's aide on media, Ayuba, debunked the claim that the state government was served with an injunction restraining it from performing the inauguration, saying it part of the ploy of the opposition to cause confusion.From all indications, the governor has tactically watered down the strength of the aggrieved chairmen by including the names of some them in the management committees, leaving both the chairmen of Langtang North and Bokkos local councils to carry the cross. Four of them were initially involved in the dissolution (namely Bokkos, Langtang North, Langtang South, Mikang, Wase) but with the inauguration of the management committee over the weekend, the chairman of Wase was retained in the new committee, while those of Mikang and Langtang South voluntarily resigned to re-contest.Reacting to the development, the state chairman, Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Mohammed Kanam, said the sack of the chairmen nothing but injustice, a rape of democracy and its tenets. He said there were precedents which ought to have serve as a guide for the state House of Assembly and implored the state legislature not allow the executive arm to arm-twist it into doing something contrary to the norms.A top government officials who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity charged those aggrieved to pursue their case in the court of law. Thus, the stage is now set for another round of litigation.
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