29 June 2009
(Page 2 of 3)
Since the House was not carried along, the speaker therefore ordered that "on no account must any agency of government release any fund for these illegal entities and that all well-meaning individuals should impress it on this administration to desist from illegalities." The Speaker said the judgment was being appealed as at the time of the press conference.
Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state also described the action as "most unfortunate and an example of the fact that this state has unfortunately gone to the backwardness of lawlessness". In a release by its Publicity Secretary, Adeyemi Adedipe, the PDP, which also quoted the extant law, said it was unfortunate that the governor, who is a product of rule of law, is now engaging in illegality. Akerele, who urged the people to remain law abiding said there is no victor and no vanquish in the matter as it is demonstration of democracy in action.
To give a bite to its action, the House at its plenary session, last Thursday, passed a resolution barring the Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation from releasing funds for the administration of the local governments in the state until further notice. The Assembly predicated its decision on the violation of the Section 7 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 12(4) (1 and 2) of the Local government law of the state.
However, the governor at a parley with journalists said he was convinced by the advice of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Mr Eyitayo Jegede SAN that his action can stand in any court of law. The governor said the Section 12 (4) (2) of the Local Government Law of Ondo State being cited by the lawmakers does not apply in the matter because there was no council to be dissolved in the first instance.
Mimiko said the court ruling which declared that the election that produced the council chairmen and their councillors illegal, null and void supersedes the claim of the Assembly that they were not carried along in the constitution of the caretaker for the councils.
The Assembly at a rowdy session also passed a resolution stopping any of the newly inaugurated caretaker committee members from touching the tax payers' money or any of the allocation of the 18 local government areas of the state. Arguing from a legal point of view, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, said the resolution of the Assembly directing withholding of funds due to the Local Government in Ondo State will certainly not find comfort with the provisions of the Constitution. According to him, the funds due to the Local Governments "are constitutional and dedicated funds and cannot be interfered with by any person or authority and certainly not by a resolution of a House of Assembly."
He cited the case of the Attorney-General, Lagos Vs the .Attorney General of the Federation as contained in the recent decision of the Supreme Court which he noted has clearly settled the matter thus: "The Federal Government cannot withhold constitutional and dedicated funds due to the third-tier of Government, even at the instigation of any institution of Government.
"May we take the liberty of quote the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Attorney-General, Lagos V Attorney General of Federation (2004) 18 NWLR PT 904 page 1 at page 29 and pages 91 paragraphs E-H, page 92 paragraphs A & B wherein their Lordships unequivocally resolved, the question as follows:
"The President of Nigeria has no power vested in him (by executive or administrative action) to suspend or withhold for any period whatsoever the statutory allocation due or payable to Lagos State Government pursuant to the provision of section 165(5) of 1999 Constitution"
Mimiko it would be recalled, had ordered the dissolution and freezing of the accounts of the 18 local government councils in the state as soon as he was sworn-in as governor of the state following his victory at the Court of Appeal in Benin-City, Edo State last February. He hinged his action on the flagrant disobedience of court order by the administration of former Governor Olusegun Agagu, whose administration conducted the council elections on December 15, 2007, in defiance of a court order.
The news then was that Agagu disobeyed the court order because he desperately wanted the local councils to be manned by his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should there be an order for a re-run election in the state by tribunal and the Court of Appeal following Mimiko's challenge of his victory on April 14, 2007.
However, as soon as the councils were dissolved, it sparked controversy with members of the state House of Assembly, which dominated by the PDP, described the governor's action as "a gross misconduct, unconstitutional, null and void". Addressing newsmen in Akure, the lawmakers represented by four of the 25 members said "it was not too early for us to impeach the governor because he has started wrongly by usurping our constitutional rights. Their spokesman, Hon Kele Bolodeoku, declared that "the Ondo State House of Assembly would not condone or accept any act of arbitrary use of power on the part of the new governor.
Bolodeoku, who is the Chairman House Committee on Information, Orientation and Mobilization said Section 12 (4) of the Ondo State Local Government Amendment Law (2007) allows a council to be dissolved upon a sanction by two-thirds majority of the members of the state House of Assembly. The governor, he said never sought the mandatory legislative approval before he took the action.
According to him, "We would not accept action not based on due process and the respect of law. The freezing of the local government accounts is within the power of the House and not the governor. It is an affront on House of Assembly, we would not witch hunt the new governor, we would not stop him from progressing or the state from making progress. We want to say that it is too early to start on a note of confrontation. The House of Assembly is in charge of the affairs of the local government; the freezing of its account is an act we regard as not right and an abuse of power by the governor."
At an earlier stage of the face-off, a new twist was added to the saga when citing an order from the Presidency, the 18 local council chairmen and their councillors defied the dissolution order and resumed duties at the council secretariats accompanied by armed policemen following a directive from the Presidency they should return to work.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, it was alleged, had after listening to the complaints of the leadership of the Ondo PDP, who saw the dissolution as the death knell for the party in the state, ordered the immediate reinstatement of the chairmen. The President was said to have been piqued by the alleged illegality of the dissolution that he directed that the council chairmen be reinstated until after all the legal tussles were resolved or the governor sought and secured the required two-thirds majority needed in the House of Assembly to comply with the constitutional requirements of council dissolution.
The embattled officials also rushed to the Federal High Court, alleging that he (the governor) unilaterally dissolved the local government without any recourse to provisions of the 1999 Constitution. They therefore asked the court to say "whether under and virtue of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 12 (4) of the Local Government (Amendment) Law, 2007, the governor can unilaterally and without acting on the resolution and supported by the two-third majority of the state House of Assembly dissolve any or all of the local government councils presided over by the first to 18th plaintiffs. Or "whether the act of unilateral dissolution of the 18 local government councils in Ondo State legally presided over by the two-third majority of the Ondo State House of Assembly dissolve any or all of the local government councils in Ondo State presided over by the 1st to 18 Plaintiffs".
In the originating summon deposed to by the embattled chairmen they sought among other things, "a declaration that the purported dissolution of the 18 local government councils was unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, invalid, null, void and of no legal consequence".They also urged the court to set aside the purported dissolution.
While the matter was pending, Governor Mimiko approached an Akure High Court to ask it to restrain the council officials from parading themselves as "chairmen of local government councils in the state." He also sought for an order barring them from doing anything capable of disrupting the smooth running and administration of the various councils pending the determination of the court action.
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