By Olasunkanmi Akoni

TONGUES seem to be wagging over the decision by the Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode to dissolve the Lagos Caretaker Committees, overseeing the affairs of 20 Local Government Areas, LGAs, and 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs. The State House of Assembly had on April 22, 2016, passed into law a bill recommending a-four year tenure for elected council chairmen instead of the three years that they had hitherto obtained.

The Caretaker Committees headed by Executive Secretaries, were inaugurated by the former Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on January 5, 2015. Last week Wednesday, the state House of Assembly, passed a resolution advising Governor  Ambode to relieve the erstwhile Executive Secretaries of the 57 councils of their responsibilities and replace them with Sole Administrators.

While on June 8, 2016, Ambode acceded by dissolving the caretaker committees, two days later, he approved the appointment of new Sole Administrators to take charge of the council administration in the state pending the conduct of council elections. Subsequently, the governor, on June 13, inaugurated the Sole Administrators at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House, Ikeja after being sworn-in at a ceremony attended by dignitaries.

Ambode, shortly after conducting the swearing-in ceremony, charged the Sole Administrators to see their appointments as a call to service to the people and eschew any act of abuse of office.

Feedback process

His words, “Let me seize this opportunity to warn that we will not hesitate to remove and replace any Administrator who fails to serve the people diligently or abuses his/her office. A strict monitoring, control and feedback process will be put in place to ensure that there are no excesses or excuses. “Strict accountability must be your watchword. Lagosians will be watching you and we will be watching you too,” he warned. But the news of the appointment of sole administrators has met with divergent views.

Ambode not committed to fair council polls-PDP

Kicking against the move, the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, described it as the apparent indisposition of the governor to allow credible council polls in the state. The party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, alleged that the Sole Administrators will occupy the councils in proxy for the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the unspecified period in office instead of allowing the LASIEC, to announce date for the immediate holding of council polls.

The party spokesperson accused the governor and APC of being apprehensive of going for grassroots elections because they are unpopular, “thus the dishonourable decisions to control the councils by executive secretaries and sole administrators; nomenclature which is alien and offensive to the provisions of our Constitution, under section 7, guarantees only democratically elected local government council; and administrations.

He said:  “We  are not convinced that the imminent council polls in Lagos State would be free, fair, credible considering governor Ambode’s control and manipulation of the processes expected to lead to the imminent elections. We reiterate imminent because Lagos cannot be another Osun State where there have been no council polls.

“Ambode is obviously jittery about any grass roots elections and now adopting various excuses to delay democracy at that level. Lagosians are presently patient, but we can tell you that very soon the governor will be compelled to speedily allow council polls in the state.

“The APC in Lagos cannot demand for the council polls at this time because the party is not fashionable to the people at the grassroots. They rather support illegal composition of the council’s by APC appointed executive secretaries or sole Administrators. “This is unfortunate and a big threat to our Democracy. Indeed Nigerians should watch out for the APC in the 2019 general elections. Using this Lagos observation, we are not sure of free, fair, credible 2019 general elections”, he noted.

NCP kicks: Also, National Conscience Party, NCP, expressed its disapproval on the appointment describing the development as a “rape and coup-de’ tat” on democracy and rule of law. NCP’s National Secretary, Comrade Ayodele Akele,  said “it is another step in the direction of illegality. What the court says is that Lagos State Government should conduct proper and popular council polls immediately and stop all these  shenanigans. The dissolution of caretaker committees and replacement of sole administrators is unacceptable to us, it’s an aberration on the Constitution of Nigeria and the rule of law.”

Falana reacts: Another mixed reaction that greeted the decision of the state government came from Lagos based lawyer, Femi Falana who described the development as “unconstitutional,” urging all lovers of true federalism to condemn the action because it is illegal. The social critic, who said the government went contrary to section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, added that “Ambode has just appointed 57 sole administrators in Lagos, it is wrong and it is unconstitutional. We must not allow visionless people to rule us again.”

Lagos ready for council polls—Speaker

In an attempt to allay fears of the decision, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, at a parley with Civil Society Organisations said work was in progress to ensure a smooth conduct of the council polls in the state. Obasa said “on occupation of Executive Secretaries in councils, we are working on conducting proper elections to have the voted chairmen in office.

We have just passed Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC law three weeks ago, and we are still waiting on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the release of voters’ register, delineation of constituency of wards, without all these exercises completed there is no way we can hold the polls. We politicians are always interested in elections. I assure you that in no distant future we will conduct the council poll.

“LASIEC is tackling the issue of voters register which they are yet to receive from INEC, issues of composition of the gab, four of the members are not there presently, vacant because of they have actually fulfilled their two term tenure. I think, one or two people actually passed on and the house has screened and cleared four other nominees of the governor, but they are yet to be sworn-in.”