BEING A TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY KWARA STATE PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) AGAINST THE CONTINUED USURPATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN KWARA STATE AND A BRUTAL ATTEMPT TO PUSH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS TO YEAR 2O25 BY THE ABDULRAHMAN-LED ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS (APC) ADMINISTRATION AGAINST THE STANDING ORDERS OF COURTS OF LAW, AT THE PDP SECRETARIAT, TANKE JUNCTION, GRA ILORIN, TODAY, MONDAY OCTOBER 30TH, 2023
*PROTOCOL*
Gentlemen of the Press, our highly revered party officials, distinguished members, ladies and gentlemen. Permit me to welcome you, most sincerely on behalf of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kwara State to this important press briefing held here today at our Party Secretariat in Ilorin, the state capital.
Our party is worried, just like all well-meaning Kwarans, about the continued encroachment and usurpation of local government administrations since the inception of the Abdulrahman-led All Progressive Congress in Kwara State.
Local government operations have been so far stalled, with our people at the grassroots denied of the hitherto dividends of democracy and seriously bearing the brunt. The rural parts of the state have been enveloped by insecurity, violent crimes, gangsterism, kidnappings, and wanton killing of our people, including missionaries, clergymen, and farmers, as a result of a lack of legally recognized structures at the grassroots which can use peculiarities of each local government to arrest this ugly trend. Despite several concerns raised and court orders to that effect, the Kwara state government has been defiant and individualistic in its conduct.
You all will recall that immediately after the APC came on board in May 2019, the first casualty of its rascality and abuse of power were the sixteen elected council chairmen who were based on politically motivated trump-up charges, illegally dissolved with the help of the Kwara State House of Assembly which has so far presented itself as a tool in the hands of Governor Abdulrahman led executive. This action was in flagrant disobedience to court orders barring the state governor or any of its representatives, including the House of Assembly from suspending or dissolving democratically elected council chairmen or interfering with their financial activities until the lawful expiration of their tenure.
Apart from reckless disregard for the court rulings, the Abdulrahman-led government also replaced the sacked chairmen with his surrogates who were tagged Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) chairmen to illegally superintend local government administrations and their resources in the state. This action, which was an affront to our judiciary and constitution, was not only condemned by well-meaning Kwarans, including some members of the APC but also challenged in court by a popular Kwara-based civil society organization, the Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENETSUD), which is reputed for drawing public attention to bad government policies, financial recklessness and misappropriations and anti peoples programmes.
*Court rulings dissolved TIC, ordered refund of LG money*
Upon ENETSUD prayer to the Kwara State High Court in March 2021, Justice Hassan Gegele in a remarkable judgment, described Abdulrahman’s action as an Executive Rascality and abuse of power. The court while declaring as null and void the dissolution of democratically elected chairmen, ordered the immediate dissolution of the TIC members and ordered them to refund all monies, and remunerations paid to them in that capacity. Not satisfied, the Abdulrahman government proceeded to appeal the judgment and in April 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Kwara State High Court and ordered the immediate dissolution of TIC imposed on the local government councils in Kwara.
*Three Years of Defiance of the Court Order by Kwara State Government*
Distinguished guests, gentlemen of the press, this is close to two years after the Court of Appeal judgment and close to three years after that of the trial court, Governor Abdulrahman, in a crash show of rascality and impunity, has not only refused to obey the court orders but has also allowed his unlawful agents continue lording on local governments for more than 3 years, which is the constitutional tenure permissible for council chairmen.
In a tactical bid to waste time and frustrate the litigation process to enable his surrogates to continue in office against standing orders of courts, the Kwara State Government in a pretentious manner deceitfully approached the Supreme Court in April 2022, to appeal their Appeal Court loss but has refused to file any brief to allow the Supreme Court pick a date for hearing.
Our Party considers this a blatant affront to our judiciary and we call on the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, who is also an indigene of Kwara to immediately use his office to expedite actions on this to protect the sanctity of the rule of law and rescue the sixteen local government areas of the state from the shackles of illegal businessmen feasting on local government money since 2019.
*Constitution of Politically Inclined KWASIEC Board*
In her usual crafty character, the Kwara state government in a bid to deceive the Kwara public of her readiness to conduct local government elections, announced the composition of the board of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) with a claim from the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaiye, that the process for the conduct of local government elections had begun. This action is aimed at dousing the tension and preparing the minds of people for LG elections which Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq does not have the intention of conducting.
A careful study of the structure of the board has reflected that the board is filled with APC card-carrying members carefully selected to do the bidding of the Governor and his party, the APC. This was evident in the opening remarks of the board chair, Muhammed Okanla Baba where he was quoted saying he and his team are grateful to and will not disappoint the Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who only appointed them as political compensation for their roles in their party.
The KWASIEC board statement alone has eroded the commission, and its natural integrity, and cast doubt on its political will to deliver free, credible, and fair elections for the state. It is on this basis that Kwara PDP passes a vote of no confidence in the present body of KWASIEC and calls for its immediate dissolution.
*Hasty Passage of the Executive Bill on Local Gov’t and Its Implication to Kwara*
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we are here to inform you that amidst all these constitutional fouls, the Abdulrahman-led government has transmitted a bill to alter some vital sections of the existing local government laws of the state. Apart from the suspicion with which the hasty receipt and passage of the said bill by the Kwara House of Assembly, which ought to observe due diligence in its operation, the process that led to the bill scaling through first and second readings respectively, ran foul of the house standing rules and orders. We have been reliably informed that apart from the Speaker who read the content of the bill to the hearings of legislators, none among the legislators was given a copy of the bill to peruse. Many of the lawmakers including those in APC are not comfortable that they are being treated like kindergarten pupils by the Speaker who is largely described as a stooge to the governor but has refused to speak so as not to run into trouble with the governor.
We therefore admonish Mr Speaker to halt further action on this evil bill which tends to continue the enslavement of our local government councils and ensure all lawmakers have copies of the bill to contribute their knowledge and make informed input that represents the will of their constituencies and constituents.
Furthermore, we condemn in strong terms, the attempt to alter section 20 (1) of the LG law to increase notification of the election date by KWASIEC from the existing ninety (90) days to three hundred and sixty days. If this bill is passed into law the LG elections will automatically be shifted to the year 2025, two years to the expiration of the second term of this administration. How Governor Abdulrahman will be so comfortable allowing illegal TIC chairmen, who ordinarily are not known to our laws and constitution, to continue presiding over LG councils for almost eight (8) years is something that should baffle every right-thinking Kwaran.
The PDP in Kwara state joins other stakeholders in the state to demand the immediate suspension of this anti-democratic bill which aimed at further crippling grassroots governance and subjecting their monthly allocations to the sinister control and consumption of the governor through his illegal TIC chairmen. Our Party demands immediate publication of all federal allocations and other cash inflow to all local government area councils of Kwara state and at the same time utilization of those funds since 2019 including an explanation on the missing N300 million naira exposed by the erstwhile Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ms Aishat Ahman Patigi, before her controversial redeployment and subsequent resignation from the Abdulrahman cabinet
We are aware that over one hundred and thirty-five billion (N135bn) revenue has been allocated to all the sixteen local government areas apart from special interventions and the IGR since 2019, it is sad however that despite the huge cash inflow to LGAs, there has not been a manifestation of prosperity and development, neither has the living standard of our people at the grassroots been improved. Instead, the local government and SUBEB workers remain, perpetual victims of unpaid salary backlogs even though payment of the backlogs formed an integral part of the APC’s 2019 deceptive campaign.
*Kwara Government’s Position on RAAMP and CAILS Road Irresponsible*
It’s quite unfortunate that APC got to power through propaganda and is running the state with the same. If not, they would not be shamelessly flaunting the glory of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) that was inaugurated by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in October 2017 even though the 60million dollars has not been judiciously utilized, and the construction of the road that connects with Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, Ilorin (CAILS) remained uncompleted in AA’s first term. We have never seen a Government that celebrated uncompleted projects like this present government does in the history of Kwara State. If it was Yebumot to Oloje road that the Governor lied about, every discerning Kwaran knew the road was already abandoned from Adeta to Oloje after the 2023 elections until the community protested a few weeks ago. A quick stroll to the institution’s gate and the deep potholes there would organically burst their lies. Kwara has now become an object of ridicule in the country as Nigerian celebrities including Lil Kesh and others who visited the state for an event last week publicly decried the state of our roads.
In conclusion, we hereby call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, to halt further disbursement of LG allocation to Kwara state pending when the government will address several issues around it and ensure the ongoing undemocratic bill seeking postponement of LG election to year 2025 is put on hold while council elections are conducted as soon as possible to breath a sense of relief to our people at the grassroots.
Thank you everyone and thank you gentlemen of the press for your time.
PDP, Power!
PDP, Power to the People!!
PD and P, Oloye!!!
Signed:
Rt. Hon. Babatunde Mohammed,
State Chairman,
Kwara PDP.
