On Friday, the Senate passed a resolution calling on the Federal Government to withhold statutory allocations from local government councils currently governed by unelected officials.
This decision was reached following the adoption of a motion titled “Urgent need to halt the erosion of democracy; the dissolution of elected councils in Benue” during the plenary session on Friday. The motion was sponsored by Sen. Abba Moro (PDP- Benue).
Sen. Moro highlighted the dissolution of democratically elected local government councils in Benue by the state government, replacing them with caretaker committees. He emphasized that such a practice was contrary to the 1999 Constitution, considering the constitutional obligation of every state to establish local government councils through legal means. Sen. Moro also pointed out existing court rulings prohibiting interference with the tenure of elected local councils.
Contributing to the discussion, Sen. Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra) emphasized that Section seven of the Constitution mandates the election of officials for local government councils. He denounced the replacement of elected officials with caretaker committees as a violation of the Constitution, urging the National Assembly to defend constitutional principles.
Sen. Adams Oshiomole (APC-Edo) referred to a Supreme Court ruling asserting that state governors lack the authority to dissolve elected local government councils. He called on the Senate to request the Minister of Finance to refrain from releasing statutory allocations to unelected local government councils.
Sen. Ali Ndume (APC-Borno) emphasized the constitutional nature of the issue, suggesting that the dissolved councils seek legal redress through the court system.
The President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, declared the dissolution of elected local government councils by state governments as illegal. The Senate further urged Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue to reinstate the elected local government councils in compliance with the Constitution.
