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Executive Director of Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), Comrade Idris Miliki Abdul has described the extension of Local Government Administrators in Kogi State as unacceptable.
In a press statement signed by Miliki, the rights group wondered where Kogi State House of Assembly derived its powers to extend the Administrators’ tenure since the local government law passed by same House did not make provision for caretakership.
“The actions of the Kogi State House of Assembly in extending the illegal and unconstitutional administrators in Kogi State, is regrettable, condemnable, worrisome and unacceptable. There is nowhere in the local government law passed by the same State Assembly, did not make provision for Caretakership other than a democratically constituted local government. We wonder where the Kogi State House of Assembly derive its powers to extend an illegality.
“Local government is another tier of government with constitutional power. Can a Law Making institution continue to break the same law it enacted? We are worried that the House of Assembly has failed in her oversight functions to monitor the funds accrued to the local governments, even when the state claims that it had received N10 billion for the local governments.
“Where is the report in respect to the funds accrued to local government by the Auditor general of the Local governments? Whose reports are constitutionally supposed to be submitted to the same House Assembly? How many oversight functions have been carried out on the local government councils by the House of Assembly in the last 1 year and where are the reports of these?
“Despite that the Executive did not seek the consent and approval of the House in appointing the illegal Administrators, the House has now extended the tenure which they never approved in the first place.
“It is on record that the 5thAssembly under the leadership of Hon Abdullahi Bello, passed a resolution denouncing Caretakership of Local government councils and was signed by all 25 Honourable members of the Assembly. So why should the same institution, under a different leadership, approve and extend illegality as it affects local government administration.
“We call on the State House of Assembly to stop playing politics with the lives of the people of Kogi State that put them there in the first place. We condemn in strong terms, impunity in the name of loyalty to the Executive by the Kogi State House of Assembly in respect to this illegality”, he said.
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