Just In : Lawyer Sues Ondo Govt, Aiyedatiwa over dissolution of local govt caretaker committee
Lawyer Emodamori drags Ondo State Government to Court over fresh
directive to Heads of Local Government Administration to take over LGAs and LCDAs in the State;
…. says directive is an aberration under the Constitution.
A lawyer in Akure, Femi Emmanuel Emodamori, has sued the Governor of Ondo State (Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa), the State Attorney-General, the Commissioner for Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs, and the Heads of Local Government Administration over what he alleged as their collective plan to take over the administration of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the State by extra-constitutional means.
Just yesterday, the Ondo State Government published a letter dated 2nd January, 2024 and signed by an official of the State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, suspending the caretaker committees of the LGAs and LCDAs, and directing the Heads of Local Government Administration in the State to take over the affairs of the Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas.
The reason given for the State Government’s action was that “despite the suspension of all the recently appointed Caretaker Committee members for Local Government (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the State by a court of competent jurisdiction, some individuals in these former positions are still parading themselves in that posts.”
Femi Emodamori however claimed that no court ever suspended the Caretaker Committees as falsely claimed by the State Government, and challenged the State Government to produce the purported court order or ruling suspending the Caretaker Committee.
While addressing newsmen in Akure on the Suit, Mr. Emodamori said the
interlocutory order granted by Hon. Justice Yemi Fasanmi of the Ondo State High Court on 21st December, 2021 in Suit AK/390/2023: People’s Democratic Party v. Governor of Ondo State & 3 Ors, only restrained the defendants from appointing “any person, persons or group of persons not democratically elected as member or members of the caretaker committees or by whosoever name called to administer the affairs of Local Government councils and/or Local Council Development Areas in Ondo State”.
He also queried asked “Which part of this order is the State Government
alluding to? It’s all lies. It is a political subterfuge to supplant one set of
unelected Local Government rulers with another set of unelected stooges, in defiance of an existing Court order and in aberration of the provision of
Sections 1(2) and 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
1999 (as amended) and Section 1(1) of the Local Government Administration, Conduct of Local Government Election and Allied Matters Law, Cap. 87, Vol. 2, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006, which provide unequivocally, that local governments shall be administered by democratically elected council. We must put a stop to this shenanigans.”
In Femi Emodamori’s Originating Summons in Suit No. AK/3/2024, which was sighted by newsmen, he is claiming the following reliefs:
A DECLARATION that by the combined provisions of Sections 1(2) and 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as
amended), Section 1(1) of the Local Government Administration,
Conduct of Local Government Election and Allied Matters Law, Cap.
87, Vol. 2, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006 and Section 4 of the
Ondo State Creation of Local Government Areas Law, 2023, it is illegal and unconstitutional for the 1st to 3rd Defendants to appoint or
authorize the 4th and 5th Defendants and other Heads of Local
Government Administrations in Ondo State to take over the governance or administration of the Local Government Areas (LGAs)
and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the State.
AN ORDER setting aside and/or nullifying the 1st to 3rd Defendants’
letter or instrument dated “2 January, 2024” with reference number
CMG.953/33, directing the 4th and 5th Defendants and all other Heads
of Local Government Administration (HOLGAs) in Ondo State to take
over the governance, administration and assets of all the Local
Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas
(LCDAs) in the State.
AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 1st to 3rd
Defendants and their servants, agents or privies howsoever called,
3from appointing, authorizing or instigating the 4th and 5th Defendants and other Heads of Local Government Administrations in Ondo State, persons take over the governance, administration and assets of all the Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the State, such persons having not been elected or properly constituted to administer the Local Government Areas and/or Local Council Development Areas in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other relevant Laws of Ondo State.
The case has not yet been fixed for hearing.
