June 25, (THEWILL) – The Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Benue State chapter, has described the suspension of elected Council Chairmen and Councillors in Benue State by the State House of Assembly as mere wishful thinking.
It, therefore, urged members of the public to disregard such an announcement, insisting on being at their duty post on Monday.
At a news conference in Makurdi, on Saturday, the State ALGON Chairman and Chairman of Guma Local Government Council, Dr Michael Uba, who was flanked by other Council Chairmen, said the mandate given to them is for two years and would not allow any interest group to truncate it.
“Our suspension is, by now, an issue which you the press are aware of and have even reported widely in your various medium, as was purported by the Benue State House of Assembly on 21st June, 2023, and only yesterday, 23rd June, 2023, by correspondence from the office of the Permanent Secretary in the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
“We state without the slightest modicum of ambiguity or prevarication that we do not recognise such purporting of our suspension from office from such quarters as are purporting it, neither do we consider ourselves under any obligation to give heed to same or comply with any directive as emanates from it.
“Our position derives a fundamental base from the incontrovertible fact of our offices being a creation of law as guaranteed under the supreme umbrella of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended in 1999), which recognises the tier of government we function at as the third in a tripod made up of the Federal, State and Local,” he stated.
The ALGON Chairman explained that they were elected as council chairmen on 30th April, 2022, in the local council elections conducted by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) and sworn into office on 29th June, 2022.
“We, in line with the provision of extant law, proclaimed the legislative councils in our various areas, which were also duly elected and thereafter, forwarded to them, our nominations for the offices of Supervisors whom we swore into the various statutorily designated offices, together with Special Advisers to our offices.
“We were not appointed into office but were elected by the electorate of Benue State and vested with a mandate, which is guaranteed under the law, with the procedure for the administration of the councils under our leadership clearly provided for under the Local Government Establishment Law of Benue State,” he added.
Dr Uba said it is not known to them under such law that they and the entirety of the government at the tier of it can be sacked in the manner as purported by the State Assembly and the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
He said, “We equally defer to the judgement of the National Industrial Court in Makurdi, which barred the Government of Benue State at all levels from taking any action as it seeks to temper with our lawfully recognised mandate as elected council chairmen.”
He said the judgement of the court is still subsisting and not even aware that the government appealed against it, saying Council Chairmen expect the Government of Benue State to lead the way on the quest for strengthening an order of law and respect for due process in Benue, rather than promoting impunity and the sort of anarchy seen in the actions of the State Assembly and Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
“We, as Chief Security Officers of the 23 Local Government Areas of Benue State, are critical stakeholders and leaders in the state and will at all times be willing to tow the path of peace, law and order, and this we have been doing since being sworn into office in our various councils,” he stated.
The Council bosses, therefore, vow not to surrender to illegality and impunity as is being contrived against them by the Revd Fr Alia administration, pointing out that to surrender to the unlawful purported suspension preferred against them will amount to doing a disservice to Benue State.
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