THE suspended Kwara State local government chairmen yesterday insisted that they remain the authentic and legitimate chairmen of their respective local government areas.
They added that their suspension by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is unconstitutional, null and void.
The embattled council chairs added that they had instituted contempt charge against the state government and the state House of Assembly in court.
The council chairmen argued that they had on June 13 secured a high court judgment disallowing the state House of Assembly and the governor from freezing the 16 local government councils’ accounts.
The suspended chairmen said in the suit between Hajia Risikat Opakunle and 15 others versus Kwara State Governor and others, the court “determined that the governor and House of Assembly of the state cannot dissolve the councils or suspend the 16 local government chairmen during the tenure of their respective offices that will expire on November 27, 2020”.
AbdulRazaq had on Tuesday this week suspended the council chairmen and legislative councils on alleged misappropriation of N33 billion.
Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, the Association of Local
Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Chairman Joshua Omokanye said: “Under a constitutional arrangement set out under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, neither the governor nor the state House of Assembly has power to dissolve the local government councils or suspend us from office, particularly when we have a valid and subsisting court judgment in our favour that has made a final pronouncement on our right as democratically elected council chairmen of the state.”
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