SENATOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI-LED GOVERNMENT MUST RESPECT SECTION 7 (1) OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION WHILE LITIGATIONS PERTAINING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS MUST BE WITHDRAWN
August 24th 2014.
PRESS STATEMENT
SENATOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI-LED GOVERNMENT MUST RESPECT SECTION 7 (1) OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION WHILE LITIGATIONS PERTAINING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS MUST BE WITHDRAWN
*No to Continuous Imposition of Caretaker Chairmen; Workers, Trade Unions, Artisans, Students and the entire Working People must be allowed to democratically elect substantive Local Government Representatives*
We of the Oyo State Chapter of Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) demand for immediate withdrawal of all litigations over the legitimacy of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) which the Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led administration in the state has been using since its inception as an excuse to continue to justify its unjustified and undemocratic imposition of Party loyalists and stooges as caretaker chairmen across the 33 local government areas in the state.
It is worthy to note that, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, within three years of his administration, has at two different occasions undemocratically appointed two sets of his political stooges and loyalists at the head of each of the 33 local government areas in the state as Caretaker Chairmen.
This is contrary to the 1999 Constitution as amended. For instance, section 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution state thus: “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.” Hence, the appointment of Caretaker Chairmen to run the affairs of the local government councils is illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic.
The simple reason why Senator Abiola Ajimobi is maintaining undemocratic local governments is because it gives the state government full access, control and abuse of funds accruable to the local governments. As a matter of fact, all the prominent pro-capitalist politicians behind the so called litigation had one time of the other benefited from the undemocratic option emanated form it.
Take for instance, Otunba Alao Akala, throughout his four years of inglorious regime of corruption and monumental wastes of public resources, adhered to undemocratic arrangement whereby all local government chairmen across the 33 local governments were his political appointees. Also, it is on record that, Senator Rasheed ladoja was given some slots in the first set of Caretaker Chairmen appointed by Senator Ajimobi.
Going by the fact that all existing pro-establishment political parties are interested to preserve this arrangement, because of the inherent anti-people benefits of corruption and misappropriation, none is capable and prepared to organize campaigns that will force the State Government to respect the 1999 Constitution as amended by immediately organizing an election into all the local governments in the state.
SPN hereby call on the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as well as other pro-labour organizations to spearhead a campaign to put pressure on the Oyo state Government to immediately organize election into the local governments in line with the dictates of Section 7 (1) and this campaign must be linked with a demand for proper and adequate funding of public services like education, health etc; implementation of N18, 000 minimum wage for civil servants, adequate and immediate compensation for victims of demolition; reduction of exorbitant school fees across tertiary institutions in the state etc.
SPN also stands for a local government system that will be democratically controlled and managed by elected representatives (committees) of workers/experts of different sectors, traders, students, artisans etc. These elected representatives must be subjected to recall anytime and must earn the average wage of skilled civil servants including making all records/documents available to the public at all times without any bottlenecks. This is the only way corruption and waste can be eradicated.
Bamigboye Abiodun (Abbey Trotsky)
Oyo State Secretary, Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN)
