December 02, (THEWILL) – The Senate, on Friday, passed a resolution directing the federal government to withhold statutory allocations to local councils across the country not democratically elected.
This followed the adoption of a motion moved at plenary by Senator Abba Moro (PDP Benue South ).
Moving the motion titled: “Urgent Need to Halt the Erosion of Democracy: the Dissolution of Elected Councils in Benue State”, Moro expressed dismay over the dissolution of democratically elected councils in Benue state and replaced them with caretaker committees.
He said the placing of caretaker committees to replace elected councils was an aberration and alien to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which prescribes democratically elected councils as a system of local government in Nigeria.
According to him, it was the constitutional responsibility of every state to ensure the existence of local government councils by law.
“There are subsisting court rulings directing the governor, the House of Assembly, their agents, privies, among others not to tamper with the tenure of the elected councils”, he said, adding that since the governor and government of Benue State have not appealed the judgments, dissolution of the 23 local government councils in the state, was against the rule of law.
Senator Victor Umeh ( LP Anambra Central), who seconded the motion said section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees that there shall be a democratically elected official of the local government areas.
According to him, the emasculation of elected local government officials and replacing them with caretaker committees with the intent of taking over their funds from the Federation Account was a violation of the constitution.
Other Senators including Adams Oshoimole (APC Edo North), Ali Ndume (APC Borno South), Abdulfatai Buhari (APC Oyo North), etc, also supported the motion.
In his remarks after the general debate, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said it was worrisome that the current scenario was happening in a state controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that the party should avoid such practice.
Akpabio recalled that as governor, he conducted local government elections twice, suggesting that the nation could look in the direction of saddling the responsibility of conducting elections of local government areas to a designated body established by law.
