By Etop Ekanem

​​Two Delta State indigenes, Mr. Jeckins Ejiro Wisike and Mr. Emuobonuvie Obukowho have filed a law suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against the Delta State governor and President Bola Tinubu to stop the allocation to Head of Personnel Managements, HPMs across the25 local government areas of Delta State.

The plaintiff, in a suit No.FHC/ABJ/CS/450/2024 seek, among the following: A declaration that the 25 sole administrators and seven-member caretaker committee purported appointed by the state Governor on March 8, 2024 without any conduct of local government council elections to respectively govern the Executive and the Legislative Arms of the 25 local government areas of Delta State as listed in Clause 10, part 1,of the first Scheduled of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , is illegal and cannot manage or superintend on behalf of the Local Government Councils, the Federal allocation accrued to the Local Government Councils in Delta State under the structure laid down in the Allocation of Revenue (Federation Account.ETC.) Act

And that the appointment of 25 sole administrators is in contravention of sections 1(1) ,(2),(3), 7(1),(4), (6)(a) and (b), Section 162(5) and Fourth Scheduled of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

And it is their argument that Section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution, the system of Local Government by democratically elected Local Government Councils is guaranteed and in effect no arm of government, be legislative or executive can create Government or establish government at the Local Government level. That it is unconstitutional to have the 25 HPMs as sole administrator of the Local Government Areas in Delta State.

It could be recalled that the Association of Indegens and Eligible Registered Voters in Delta State, has in the past given a notice to the Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Federal Ministry of Justice to suspend the sharing of the statutory allocation of public revenue funds meant for the 25 local government council’s of Delta state.