AGF Cautions Governors Against Unlawful Removal of LG Officials, Calls It Treasonable
Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has warned governors and their Houses of Assembly against unlawful removal of democratically elected local government council officials, saying such acts are not only treasonable but also have consequences.
Fagbemi, who sounded the warning at the Nigerian Bar Association’s State of the Nation Discourse, pointed out that the consequences would be in spite of the immunity clause shielding the governors.
Earlier, the House of Representatives called on Fagbemi to properly advise all parties to the dispute over the control of local governments in Osun State on the true position of the law.
Nonetheless, no fewer than 20 local government secretariats were taken over by the purportedly reinstated chairmen and councillors in Osun State from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Immediately they resumed at their desks, the council chairmen and councillors ordered the freezing of the various council accounts.
But Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Olumide Egbedun, called on Egbetokun to act swiftly and decisively to ensure the arrest and prosecution of all illegal occupants of the local government secretariats.
An Abuja-based lawyer and rights activist, Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, warned the federal government and the ruling APC against the forceful take-over of the Osun State government, stressing that such attempts would only lead to unimaginable chaos and anarchy.
Speaking at the NBA State of the Nation Discourse, Fagbemi said the administration of President Bola Tinubu, taking into consideration the crucial role of local government councils in the development of any nation, had last year approached the apex court to ensure the autonomy of the local governments as the third tier of the government in the country.
He lamented, “Despite the judgement of the Supreme Court, outlawing the illegal removal of democratically elected local government councils by governors, it is quite unfortunate that a few states have continued to flagrantly carry on with this illegality.
“Let me state in unequivocal terms that this act is tantamount to treason and must be treated as such.”
Fagbemi, who was represented by Director, Civil Appeals in the FMOJ, Gazali (SAN), stated that while “Section 308 of the constitution grants the governor immunity from prosecution…flagrant disobedience to the Supreme Court judgement will have unpleasant consequences for the state as a whole, should it persist.”
He also took a swipe at lawyers and state attorneys-general for failing to advise their respective clients and governors properly.
According to Fagbemi, “There is a worrisome trend in the legal profession these days where lawyers, including the state Attorneys-General, allow their clients and political leaders to dictate the law to them when it should be the other way around.
“This is quite unbecoming of gentlemen of the bar and it must be addressed and reversed immediately. We must all remember that we owe a duty to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before our political allegiances.
“Every state in Nigeria has an attorney-general, therefore, the failure of states to the local government structures in their states, in my opinion, can be attributed to the complete dereliction of duty by the attorneys-general to the rule of law they swore to uphold.”
He added that lawyers must be courageous enough to always give the correct legal advice to politicians, who believed they had the right to breach the sacred provisions of the constitution, regardless of the repercussion.
While acknowledging that as servants of the law the primary duty of lawyers was to defend the constitution always, Fagbemi called on everyone present at the occasion to lend their support to the complete actualisation of the autonomy of local governments in Nigeria, in line with the mandate of Tinubu.
He stated, “Most importantly, local governments must also wake up to their constitutional duties by being accountable to the citizens, constantly improving themselves in areas of administration and capacity building of their staff and constant community engagement to improve trust and transparency.
“There is no room for babysitting the third tier of the government any more. There must be concerted efforts by ALGON to continue to improve the technical capacities of local government workers across Nigeria to be able to rise up to the humongous task ahead of them.
“Local government councils must be seen to be alive, with a reformed civil service structure and executing more impactful projects that will bring respite to the people in the grassroots, for whose sake this fight was won.”
Meanwhile Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, at a meeting with top British diplomats, accused the Inspector of Police (IGP), Mr Kayode Egbetokun, of executing and imposing illegality on local councils in the state. This followed a forceful takeover of local government secretariats in the state by former APC council chairmen and councillors claiming to be acting based on a court order.
