THE Edo State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution suspending chairmen and vice chairmen of the 18 local government councils in the state for two months.
The House also mandated leaders of the legislative arms to take over leadership of their respective councils.
The suspension of the council chairmen and their deputies was sequel to a motion moved by the member representing Esan North East 1, Mr Isibor Adeh, and seconded by the member representing Akoko-Edo 2, Mr Donald Okogbe.
Governor Monday Okpebholo had earlier written a petition to the House over the refusal of the chairmen to submit financial records of their local governments to the state government.
In the letter, the governor, who described the action of the chairmen as an act of insubordination and gross misconduct, requested the House to look into the matter.
When the matter came up for debate, 14 members supported the motion for their suspension, six of them were opposed to the motion, while three members refused to either support or oppose the motion.
Reacting to the suspension, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on the chairmen and vice chairmen to ignore their suspension and return to work.
The PDP chairman in the state, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, who made the call in Benin, maintained that neither the governor nor the House of Assembly has the power to suspend council chairmen and their vice.
“Prior to this illegal suspension, the state’s Chief Judge, Daniel Okungbowa, had told the assembly that they lack the powers to unilateral tamper with the affairs of elected local government council following the financial autonomy granted the local governments by the recent Supreme Court ruling.
“What the Assembly did today cannot stand because of the Apex Court’s ruling granting financial autonomy to elected local government councils in the country.
“We, therefore, call on the Federal Government to obey the latest judgment which it sponsored by seizing allocations meant for the 18 local government councils as the Supreme Court said can only be lifted after the chairmen and vice chairmen return to their seats,” the PDP chair said.
Meanwhile, counsel for the Edo LGA chairmen, Ogaga Ovrawah (SAN), has written to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, and the Attorney General of Edo State against what he perceived as the illegal action by the speaker and other members of the assembly.
In the letter, Ovrawah asserted that the chairmen cannot be suspended on the grounds of insubordination since they are democratically elected and independent and not subordinates of the governor, the Assembly or its agents.
The letter by the lawyer followed the purported order by Governor Okpebholo to the Assembly to immediately suspend all 18 LGA chairmen in the state.
This is despite the ruling of the Chief Judge, Justice Daniel Okungbowa that the state government and the Assembly or their agents had no right to suspend or dissolve elected local government council officials.
Justice Okungbowa had cited the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in a suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice which ordered that elected council members cannot be dissolved by the state government, House of Assembly, or its agents.
According to the counsel for the Assembly, the governor lacks the power and authority under the law to dissolve the LG council executives since they were duly elected by the people.
He emphasized that he had the authority of his clients to “take all necessary lawful actions to protect and vindicate their constitutional rights if the House of Assembly decides to obey, comply, and/or purport act under the cover, guise or coloration to accede to the demand for a mandate to dissolve the council executives.
Part of the letter read: “Our clients have it on good authority that His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Edo State has written to the House of Assembly to request and demand that it pass a resolution to direct him, as the Governor, to dissolve the democratically elected 18 Local Government Councils in Edo State before the expiration/lapse of the tenure of three (3) years enshrined in the Edo State Local Government Law, 2000.
“We have our clients’ firm resolve to take all necessary lawful actions to protect and vindicate their constitutional rights if the House of Assembly decides to obey, comply, and/or purport act under the cover, guise, or coloration of any unconstitutional and illegal directives, requests, and/or demands made by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Edo State of Nigeria, to usurp, subjugate, restrict, and/or limit their rights and tenure as the democratically elected chairmen and dissolve the Local Government Councils in any manner inconsistent with the Constitution, extant legislations and judgments. It goes without much ado that any action founded on a nonexistent law amounts to a nullity.
“This letter serves as a formal thirty days (30) notice of our clients’ intention to institute legal proceedings against the House of Assembly if it acts upon any directive or demand contrary to the Constitution, extant legislations and the judgments hereinbefore referred to in this letter. The action shall seek declarations, orders, damages, injunctions, and costs of the litigation for the truncation and usurpation of their rights.”
READ ALSO: Edo Assembly delays Oshiomhole son’s clearance, okays Attorney General’s appointment