…..As Appellate Court Throws Out Appeal of Stranded Former Council Chairmen and Pro-Wike Yo-yos
..Says It Smacks of Sycophancy for Wike’s Praise-singers to Jubilate Over Supreme Court Judgement on Financial Autonomy for LGA as the Former Governor Vehemently Fought Against it During His Days in Office.
Consequent upon the dismissal of two appeals filed by former Rivers Local Government Council Chairmen whose statutory three-year tenure elapsed June 17, 2024, challenging the decision of the lower Court which nullified the unlawful elongation of their tenure by stranded former state lawmakers led by Martins Amaewhule, erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has called on the Inspector General of Police to Order the immediate withdrawal of officers and men of the force stationed at the entrance to each of the 23 local government council secretariats in the state.
Recall that the Police IG ordered the barricade of all 23 local government headquarters following plots by the former Council Chairmen who loyal to the FCT Minster, to hinge on a purported tenure elongation as an entrapment to raise tension in the state by continuing to hold forth when in the eye of the law they have lost every legitimacy that sustains their position as council chairmen.
Delivering ruling on the appeals marked CA/PH/137M/2024 and CA/PH/145M/2024 respectively, and filed by former Chairman of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government, Enyiada Cookey-Gam and Ors., the Court ruled the appeals were lacking in merit and accordingly, dismissed them.
The ruling, according to Chief Eze marked the end of the controversy generated by the purported tenure extension ignited by the unlawful amendment of the state local government laws by some individuals who had no legitimacy to legislate for the state.
The APC Chief said the Appellate Court by its verdict, has reaffirmed the position canvassed by law experts and Nigerians of lettered mind that Martin Amawhule is a mere tool in the hand of Wike to perpetuate crisis in the state to shift the mind of the Governor from the cardinal objectives of his administration.
He said the exit of the Police from council gates has become necessary to allow the Caretaker committee Chairmen and their members face the primary function for which they were appointed which is chiefly to reach out to people at the grassroots to mitigate the impact of the towering economic hardship affecting the people as anything in the contrary will amount to sabotage by the police.
Eze described call by Amaewhule, on the Governor to represent the 2024 budget to his committee of friends as laughable and urged the former Speaker and his compadres to accept their fate and face reality, stressing that the state have moved on long ago and whatever opinion they hold against the Governor is inconsequential.
On the Supreme Court ruling directing the Federal Government to henceforth pay the allocation due to the Local Government Councils in Nigeria direct to the Council, Eze said it smacks of sycophancy for supporters of Wike to jubilate over the judgement as the FCT Minister mounted a strong opposition to local government autonomy when he held sway as Governor.
He said it is left for the Governors of the 36 State to decide what to do with the judgement as over 95% of the states run local government administration through interim administrators and given that the judgement offends Section 162(6) of the 1999 Constitution which provides for a joint state/local government account into which all allocations meant for each state and the local government therein would be paid.
Let me reiterate that the Supreme Court can only interprete the law but cannot change the law of any country, in this regard, until the National Assembly expunge the relevant portions of the constitution to give life to the Supreme Court Judgement on this those who are celebrating the judgement are doing so out of ignorance even as I wonder what the Wike’s supporters are celebrating as if they are still in charge of any Local Government Council in Rivers State if not once again showcasing their stupidity .
