Vice chairmen vow showdown over dissolution of LG executives

National chairman of the Association of Local Government Vice-Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC), Lawrence Onuchukwu, says they are poised for a showdown with governors that fail to rescind their decision to dissolve local government executives. Onuchukwu, in a statement in Abuja, described as illegal and unconstitutional the dissolution of local governments in some states of the […]

National chairman of the Association of Local Government Vice-Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC), Lawrence Onuchukwu, says they are poised for a showdown with governors that fail to rescind their decision to dissolve local government executives.

Onuchukwu, in a statement in Abuja, described as illegal and unconstitutional the dissolution of local governments in some states of the federation, adding that the association would use ‘all legal means to revert the directive.’

“On May 29, 2019, while taking the mantle of leadership, three state governors of Oyo, Gombe and Zamfara sacked all the democratically elected local governments in their states, to pave way for their caretaker committees to be appointed soon,” he said.

Onuchukwu, who is also the Vice Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), expressed confidence that the decision would not stand, following the Supreme Court pronouncement of 2016 that no governor-elect has the power to dissolve an elected council administration and replace it with caretaker committees.

It will be recalled that a few weeks ago, the association at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting resolved to resist any state governor that refused to conduct local government elections in his state, describing caretaker committees as a conduit pipe to siphon local government funds.‎