Senate tasks FG to withhold statutory allocations of unelected LGs
Sen. Adams Oshoimole (APC-Edo) said that the Supreme Court had ruled that state governors had no power to dissolve elected local government councils.
The Senate has passed a resolution urging the Federal Government to withhold statutory allocations from local government councils that are not democratically elected.
This followed the adoption of a motion on the “urgent need to halt the erosion of democracy and the dissolution of elected councils in Benue, ”at plenary on Friday, sponsored by Sen. Abba Moro (PDP-Benue).
Presenting the motion, Moro said that democratically elected local government councils had been dissolved by the Benue Government, which replaced them with caretaker committees.
He said constituting caretaker committees was an aberration and alien to the 1999 Constitution.
Moro said that 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, and privies, among others, from tampering with the tenure of the elected local councils,’’ he said.
Contributing, Sen. Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra) said that Section 7 of the Constitution guarantees that there shall be democratically elected officials of local government councils in the country.
He said that the emasculation of elected council officials and replacing them with caretaker committees was a violation of the Constitution.
He said that the National Assembly must rise to protect the laws by defending the Constitution.
Sen. Adams Oshoimole (APC-Edo) said that the Supreme Court had ruled that state governors had no power to dissolve elected local government councils.
He urged the Senate to prevail on the Minister of Finance not to release statutory allocations to unelected local government councils in the country.
Sen. Ali Ndume (APC-Borno) said the matter had to do with the Constitution, urging the dissolved councils to approach law courts for redress.
The President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, said the dissolution of elected local government councils by the state government was illegal.
The Senate urged Gov. Hyacinth Alia of Benue to restore the elected local government councils in line with the Constitution.