Court disqualifies transitional LG chairmen appointed by Kwara gov
An High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Friday declared the Transition Implementation Committees across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state as illegal and ordered that a proper election should be conducted to usher in new executives.
According to Ripples Nigeria, the governor of the state, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, had suspended the elected Local Government Council Chairmen in the state and replaced them with the Transitional Chairmen.
But delivering his judgment in a suit filed by Elite Network for Sustainable Development (ETSUD), Justice Hassan Gegele, said the appointment of Transition Committees to run the affairs of the third tier of government is against the provision of section 7 (1) of the constitution.
Also, the Judge ordered that all the funds expended in the running of the councils in the last six months should be refunded to the coffers of the government.
However, reacting to the development, the Kwara State Government said it would appeal the judgment.
Specifically, the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Salman Jawondo, in a statement released after the judgment, said, “We wish to state that the reasoning of the trial judge is not a finality on the issue as it is subject to appeals at the higher benches, up to the Supreme Court. This allowance is guaranteed under our law.
“In exercise of its right of appeal as enshrined under the 1999 constitution as amended, the state government intends to explore that right. It will also, as allowed under the law, seek an immediate stay of execution of the judgment of the trial Court.”
