KOGI State Governor Idris Wada, last Thursday earned the wrath of the 25-member State House of Assembly and the stakeholders in and outside his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).Ahead of the council election in December, Wada swore in a 42-man Interim Management Committee (IMC), to run the state's 21 councils. The helmsmen are addressed as Liaison Officers 1 and 2 per council.The lawmakers have accused Wada of imposition of his appointees on the people in place of democratically elected representatives, and immediately declared the action null and void. The House Committee on Information and Public Enlightenment stated that the governor embarked on 'this unlawful action without regard for the rule of law or recourse to the State Assembly, which has the power to make law for governance at the council level.'The committee insisted that the lawmakers would continue to condemn this act, which has no legal backing.'By virtue of Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution, a Local Government Administration can only be run by a democratically elected local government council and only the House of Assembly can make laws for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of a Local Government Council.'The Kogi State Local Government Law 2000 (as amended), which was passed did not provide for any liaison officers to be appointed by the governor to manage the affairs of the councils in the states.'On December 20, 2011, the Chief Judge, Justice Nasiru Ajanah declared that any structure formed for the governance of a council outside a democratically elected council, in whatever form or name is illegal, null and void and therefore unconstitutional.'Therefore, the House of Assembly has resolved that those illegally appointed Liaison Officers by the governor should stop embarking on fake and fruitless journey.'The angst against the governors' action is growing. An Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship aspirant in the 2011 election, Mr George Olusola Olumoroti recalled that Wada, in an interview (The Guardian, May 24, 2012) had said: 'We are complying with the (High Court) judgment (prohibiting caretaker) with regard to the council status and we are working towards an election. We need funds for the printing of ballot papers and to take care of other logistics. We will have elected chairmen and councilors in place. I don't know about caretaker; we are working towards election, later this year.'According to Olumoroti, 'since he has now committed the illegality he promised not to commit, the ACN will challenge this decision in the court.'Alluding to Wada's major 'political mistake' a constitutional lawyer, Yemi Muhammed, in a statement described the action as 'ill-advised and catastrophic.'He dismissed arguments similar actions have been carried out elsewhere as baseless and wondered why the state should not imitate the good works that are being implemented in other states, 'instead of imitating the culture of executive lawlessness and gross illegality''According to him, 'are purveyors of such argument so ignorant that they are not aware that this is an issue in respect of which there has been a plethora of legal decisions, wherein caretaker committees and others of their ilk were specifically pronounced to be unconstitutional and contrary to the rule of law.'I am baffled by their effrontery and perfidy. Does it mean that if one state engages in a clearly unconstitutional act, this in itself should be a justification for another state to do the same' If that is the case, then it means that no thief or armed robber should ever be condemned or found guilty, because he could easily point to the fact he would not be the first or the last to commit the offence.'I understand that the new caretakers are to be known as Liaison Officers. What is the difference' Merely playing with words cannot cure the unconstitutional nature of the exercise. It should not stand. It is an unholy journey into the evil forest of illegality; it must be stopped.'A member of the Think-Tank Committee set up by Wada to develop the blueprint for the development of the state, Otunba Funsho Owoyemi, described the move as 'a step and a calculated attempt to destroy and take Kogi back to the ruins from which Wada is working hard to save it from.'According to him, 'it is a complete departure from his ideology. I believe he has been unduly pressured. Kogi was thoroughly ruined by the past government and nobody penalised them. The former governor Ibrahim Idris cannot continue to cast his shadow over the state. This exercise should be cancelled and an election timetable rolled out. The people of Okunland are ready to cast their votes for their choice candidates. If this is not done, we have our way of responding to matters of this nature; we did it in April last year (protest votes) and we can do it again (during December council election).'How can a set of people believe they can ruin us with illegal structures' How do you use illegality to destroy illegality' Election, no matter how dirty, is always better. The people they have fielded are just there to mop up the money; they have been recycled and are just back to recover what they have lost since leaving the government. Wada should not take this unpopular step. People took several risks to support him and he cannot dash their hope. If he is overwhelmed, he has to do something different. He enjoys tremendous goodwill.'Wada's media aide, Jacob Edi, said the governor inherited the councils being administered by Directors of Local Governments considered to be an abnormality and decided to set in motion measures to midwife a transition from among career civil servants to elected chairmen and councilors. He claimed that all necessary stakeholders were consulted.'The governor didn't inaugurate caretakers, what he inaugurated, after due consultations, was an interim management committee and he directed the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC) to commence preparation towards council election.'One of the newly sworn-in liaison officers, posted to one of the councils in Kogi Central told The Guardian in confidence that his terms of preference preclude him and his colleagues from being signatories to the council account, initiate new projects, take loans or commit the councils to any financial obligations, effect transfer of council staffs except as approved by the Local Government Service Commission.
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