ONI’s AIDE WARNS FAYEMI ON COUNCIL DISSOLUTION
Ekiti State by the State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has been warned
on the dare consequences of his dissolution of Local Government
Councils in the State in flagrant disregard for the rule of law.
Wale Ojo-Lanre, Chief Media Aide to former governor of the State,
Chief Olusegun Oni, who reacted to the invasion of some Local
Government secretariats today by armed thugs said; “it is worrisome
that Fayemi, a product of due process of law is the one carrying out
acts that are not only illegal but also immoral.”
Ojo-Lanre said since the State Government itself had agreed that by
the provision of the State Local Government Administration (Amendment)
Law No. 6 of 200, the House of Assembly must ratify the dissolution,
the House should be allowed to either ratify or reject the dissolution
before trying to force the duly elected council officials out of
office with the use of armed thugs.”
“Today, thugs invaded Ado and Ikere Local Governments secretariat,
shooting sporadically into the air to chase people out of the office.
Several people were injured by these invaders, whose only brief is to
scare duly elected council chairmen and councillors away from office.
"It is sad that these are the same people sermonising about the rule
of law. It is even more worrisome that their collaborators in the
human rights and pro democracy organisations are not speaking against
this affront on the Constitution.
“If truly these people have respect for the rule of law, Fayemi and
those urging him on should have allowed for the House of Assembly to
ratify the dissolution before giving effect to it.
“By the law that Fayemi said he relied on, the dissolution must be
ratified for it to take effect. In other words, there is no
dissolution yet!
“It is like a game of football. Any of the 22 players on the field has
the right to put the ball in the net by whatever means. But a ball in
the net is not a goal until the referee says so.
“In this case, Fayemi is the player while the House of Assembly is the referee.
“Fayemi should therefore be civil enough to allow the House performs
its Constitutional duty of either ratifying the dissolution or
rejecting it. Anything other than this is an invitation to anarchy and
I am sure the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government knows the
implication of throwing the State into chaos,” Ojo-Lanre said.
While reiterating his call on the elected council officials to ignore
the dissolution and go about with the performance of their
constitutional duties, Ojo-Lanre said; “As at today, no dissolution
has been done. So, the elected council officials should continue to
perform their duties and guard against the usurpation of their
mandates by those who are pretending to be apostles of rule of law.”