December 19, (THEWILL) – The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has declared the suspension of elected local government chairmen and their deputies in Edo State as unconstitutional and unlawful.
Fagbemi’s stance follows Tuesday’s decision by the Edo State House of Assembly to suspend the chairmen and vice chairmen of the state’s 18 local government councils.
The assembly had accused the council leaders of failing to submit their annual stewardship reports to the state government and directed legislative arms of the councils to take over leadership.
In a statement on Thursday, the AGF condemned the action, stating that the suspension violates constitutional provisions.
He asserted that only local government legislatures have the authority to suspend elected council chairmen or their deputies.
“I am aware that since July 11, when the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment, local government administration has taken a new turn, different from the old order.
“At any rate, we are still studying the situation but before final reaction, it must be stated categorically and emphatically that for now, local government chairmen can only be removed through the legislative arm of the local government itself and not the State House of Assembly”, Fagbemi said.
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