*Dallas, Omodara, Oladipo, Lar reject proposal
*ALGON Chair, 11 others seek suit withdrawal
…as KWHA grills 5 council bosses
…absence of counsels stall proceedings
By Mumini Abdulkareem
The ongoing impasse between the Kwara State Government and the 16 Council Chairmen in the state took a new twist, last night, as moves to allegedly settle for a political solution over the issue has only succeeded in polarising the council bosses, National Pilot can report.
Four out of the sixteen suspended council bosses rejected the plan whose origin has been a subject of controversy between some of the affected officials and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Although All Local Government Organisation of Nigeria (ALGON) in a statement signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Joshua Omokanye and Mallam Abubakar Abdullahi Bata respectively maintained that they willingly withdrew the suit challenging their suspension by the state government, the state Chairman of the PDP, Engr. Kola Shittu chided the executive for initiating the move.
This is coming just as Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq said he did not request the withdrawal of the case but believe in the rule of law. He spoke through a whatsApp message by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye on Sunday.
The issue was one of the major talking points within the government and political circles last week with the House of Assembly vowing to get to the bottom of the matter and promised to be just in its activities.
Speaking on the issue, suspended ALGON Public Relations Officer, Mumini Lah who confirmed the differing position of his colleagues with the stand of the remaining 12 council bosses said they met with the Chief of Staff, Dr Aminu Logun at Government House, last week over the issue.
The suspended Chairman of Irepodun Local Government, Hon Muyiwa Oladipo told this reporter that he was not present during the meeting.
But speaking with this medium, one of the council chairmen, who pleaded anonymity and was one of the 12 council bosses that reportedly called for the case withdrawal, told this reporter that the decision was arrived at after a holistic look at the whole situation.
According to him, the continuation of the case has been a big challenge because of several factors which I don’t want to disclose for now. With the change of government, it is expected that it will be tougher going forward.
“Even the issue of Ekiti State regarding the suspension of council chairmen that was upturned by the Supreme Court that started in 2010, the favoured chairmen were yet to collect their money. Recently, you will observe that some of them were recalled and that was through dialogue and not any court litigation. That is why we believe we should look for a political solution or soft landing on the issue.
“Even in the case of former Chief Justice of the Federation, Walter Onoghen, the matter was initially suspended before he was tried, not to talk of us. And if you look at it, the case even ended with a political solution – whether he should be suspended or dismissed.
“So those who are concerned about the issue and our wellbeing should help us advocate for soft landing. As politicians, before the suspension, we have been lobbying all about because we knew it may still come to the issue of political solution. And we continued after our suspension but in all our efforts, we were told that we cannot look for political solution while we have filed a suit against the government.
“So 12 of us have written to our lawyers, the Judiciary (Ministry of Justice) and the House of Assembly that we are no more interested in pursuing the case and anybody that also feels that he/she also wants to join us is welcome. Mind you, the case has been adjourned to October 18 or so,” he added.
Meanwhile, the affected council bosses have began to appear before the joint House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Ethnics, Privileges for Judiciary chaired by the lawmaker representing Ilorin North/West, Hon Abdulgafar Ayinla Ayilara and Hon AbdulGaniyu Folabi Salihu representing Omupo constituency.
One of the affected council bosses was sighted driving out of the Assembly complex last Thursday.
Confirming the development, one of the council bosses from Kwara South said, “Some have started appearing before the House of Assembly committee that was set up over the issue. Five suspended chairmen have so far made it, two on Thursday and abother three on Friday. The schedule will continue this week”, he added.
According to the roaster sighted by this reporter, Asa/Baruten appeared last Thursday, Edu/Oke-Ero/Isin on Friday, Ekiti/Ilorin East has been scheduled for Monday and Moro/Ilorin West on Wednesday. Others include Kaiama/Ilorin South on Wednesday, Offa/Patigi/Oyun for Thursday and Irepodun/Ifelodun on Friday.
