State governors have been sacking duly-elected local government area (LGA) chairmen and replacing them with caretaker committees illegally, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF), has said.
The Herald gathered that AGF, Abubakar Malami SAN, communicated this to Oyo State Attorney General, Professor Oyewo Oyelewo, in a letter dated January 14, 2020.
In the letter with reference number HAGF/Oyo/2020/Vol.l/l, the AGF stated that the committees amounted to a breach of the provisions of Section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution.
It was further gathered that the AGF had written similar letters to all the 36 state governors at one time or the other over the matter.
Malami advised the governors that had sacked elected LG chairman to rescind their decision in the interest of rule of law.
According to the letter addressed to the Oyo State Government, sacking a democratically-elected LG chairman “was unconstitutional, null and void and continued disobedience of the Supreme Court judgment of December 9, 2016, in the case of Governor of Ekiti State & Ors vs Prince Sanmi Olubunmo & 13 Ors.”
“All their excellencies, state governors and speakers of state houses of assembly, who are currently acting in breach of the provisions of Section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and also acting in disobedience of the Supreme Court judgment highlighted above, to immediately retrace their steps by ensuring compliance with the above in the overall interest of the rule of law and our democracy,” Malami said.
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