LOCAL GOVERNMENT CARETAKER COMMITTEE IS ALIEN TO NIGERIA CONSTITUTION, SAYS FALANA
Segun Showunmi in Ibadan
A Human Right activist, Femi Falana has declared that there is no provision of caretaker in the Nigeria constitution, and therefore declared support for the dissolution of caretaker chairmen in Oyo State.
Penpushing reports that Falana made this known while speaking with journalists during the maiden edition of Emeritus Prof. Muyiwa Awe Annual Memorial Lecture, theme: “Policing Nigeria and Anticultism Legal Framework in Nigeria Tertiary Institutions Contemporary Issues and Challenging”, held at the University of Ibadan.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the solution to the crisis is for the Oyo State Government to speed up the holding of the Local Government election stressing that by the virtues of section 7 of the Nigerian constitution, the system of Local Government in Nigeria shall be by democratically elected councils.
Penpushing further reports that, he maintained that Governor Makinde will have to speed up election of Local Government officials emphasizing that the caretaker committee are unknown to the constitution of the xountry
“Once the Local Government chairmen has been elected, they have to serve their tenure and if at all you are not allowing them to finished their tenure, you will have to pay them, so, this is the position of the law.”
Penpushing recalled that the Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde recently met the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubaka to brief him over the crisis that rocked the Local Government Secretariats across the state following the forceful take over by the erstwhile chairmen under the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The representative of the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Oladipupo Abayomi, while speaking on the theme of the lecture noted that there is no reasonable gain in cultism on campuses, rather it leads to killings and lost of lives.
Penpushing also reports that, Abayomi who is Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of Criminal Investigative Department (CID) Iyaganku, maintained that there is need for collaboration between the security agencies and institutions to get rid of cultism in schools.
The police boss affirmed that Oyo government has a solid working relationship with the security of various institutions in the State in order to tackle the menace of cultism.
“There is need to eradicate drug movement in the country, politician should stop using students as a political thugs, and names of cultist should be published for record purpose.”
Penpushing also reports that the Antonney General and Commissioner of Justice in Oyo State, Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo who was one of the discussant at the event said that cultism is a manifestation of darkness, adding that there must be a legal framework that will empowered the institutions to punished anybody found wanted of cultism.
“There must be a proactive steps towards ending cultism in our campuses, when an administration don’t understand the position of the law, the guilty person can later become innocent at the end of the day, there should be investigation, prosecution, and conviction in order to deal with cultism issue.”
