A local government council cannot be governed or administered by the Federal Government, state government, governor of a state, local government caretaker committee, administrator, head of local government or by whatever name called or by any other state agency or other body. The government of a local government area other than by a democratically-elected council is not in accordance with the 1999 Constitution
– Supreme Court verdict on local government autonomy
Nothing… shall preclude a House of Assembly from making laws with respect to election to a local government council in addition to but not inconsistent with any made by the National Assembly – The Constitution
The Supreme Court’s verdict on Friday on the Rivers political impasse touched on many issues ranging from the legality of the state’s 2025 budget, to its allocations from the Federation Account, to the conduct of the last local government election, as well as the status of the Martin Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers and the executive council (EXCO) as presently constituted, albeit tangentially.
Though, the court did not specifically make any pronouncements on the propriety or otherwise of the EXCO peopled mainly by commissioners that must be screened and cleared by a duly-comprised House of Assembly, its non-recognition of the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led three-man assembly that confirmed them has made the positions they occupy illegal.
Despite the court’s unambiguous orders, these commissioners are still parading themselves in office as well as speaking on the judgment. It is the fashion these days for governors and their lieutenants to treat court orders with contempt. With the aid of their lawyers, who are mostly Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), they pick and choose which court orders to obey. They only see good in the judgements that favour them.
When they do not, the judge or judges must be corrupt and the losing party goes to town, again supported by these senior lawyers to run down the judiciary. Since the Supreme Court put him in his place on Friday, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has not been himself. He is not happy with the verdict and he is not hiding it. When he first spoke on the judgment on Sunday, he grudgingly promised to comply with the far-reaching orders therein, which he said he did not agree with.
Really, he does not have to agree with the verdict in toto before complying with it – so far he does so fully. There is nothing like partial compliance with court orders. It is either you comply or you do not and face the consequences of your action, which is imprisonment for contempt, no matter the status of the contemnor.
Pretending to be complying with the judgment, he directed the local government chairmen who were elected last October 5, in defiance of a high court order, to hand over to the heads of their councils. The Supreme Court frowns at such arrangements and the governor cannot claim to be unaware of what the highest court in the land said in the local government autonomy case (See the top of this piece) in which his state was well represented by his attorney-general whose office is no longer tenable in view of last Friday’s decision.
Since he facilitated their election, the council chiefs complied promptly. I was not surprised. The puppeteer was only pulling the strings of his puppets. Since the apex court has sacked the council chiefs, they needed no prompting by the governor or any other person for that matter before packing their bags and go. Fubara claims he is obeying the apex court. What kind of obedience is that when he is, in the same breathe, flouting the same court’s order that only a democratically-elected government can run a local government area?
Last July 10, the court as per Justice Emmanuel Agim, in the lead judgment, held that it is unconstitutional to have undemocratically-elected governments at that level. Under the cover of obeying one order, Fubara is deliberately disobeying another one because he does not want to deal with the 27 lawmakers that the court told him to represent the 2025 budget to. But for how long will he continue to bury his head in the sand like ostrich? The governor should stop deceiving himself.
If he does not know, he should hear it now that the market is over. To borrow the famous words which he uttered while swearing in his Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice last year: Jungle don mature, while threatening to probe the immediate past administration of his now estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike. I am not gloating over Fubara’s fate, but the truth is that he is the architect of his own problems. He can boast all he likes while talking in public, but he should not forget that he has become more vulnerable than ever.
The truth is he is now at the mercy of the Amaewhule-led assembly which on Monday gave him 48 hours to present the 2025 budget as directed by the apex court. This was the same thing the President asked him to do when the First Citizen intervened in the initial stages of this crisis. Who knows, the crisis would have been long settled and forgotten by now, if he did.
But based on bad advice, he demurred, claiming that he was “ambushed” to sign the presidential peace pact. Which is better: that missed political solution or this judicial lashing? Let nobody weep for Fubara. He may take all the time in the world to apply for the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment, but the lawmakers do not owe him a duty to wait for him.
The governor is not in a position to dictate what he wants to do or does not want to do. He is alone in the crowd of his commissioners (can they still be called that?) and other aides that surround him. They know that the party is over and one by one, they will start jumping ship so that he goes down alone, if he remains recalcitrant. Fubara can still salvage the situation if he manages things well as he is at his political nadir.
Present (or represent) the 2025 budget, dissolve his EXCO and send a fresh list of nominees to Amaewhule and co., and allow them to work out the modalities for a fresh local government poll. These things should not be too hard for him. All he needs to do is to eat the humble pie. If he decides to play smart, he risks impeachment. His ominous statement on Monday that to “leave office is the worse that will happen to me” does not have to come to pass, and only him can prevent that from happening.
Whatever may be his choice, Fubara should not misadvise others, especially the gullible youths of his state. What does he mean by the statement: “to our youths be strong, don’t be perturbed. At the right time, you will get instructions”. What instructions? I hope he is not planning something sinister. Well, the security agencies are not sleeping.
LAST WORD: I had finished writing and sent in this piece when reports filtered in that Fubara won’t honour the assembly’s ultimatum. The choice is his. May I remind him of the saying: “As you make your bed, so you shall lie on it”.
by Lawal Ogienagbon @TheNation
