There are indications that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau state might may boycott the forthcoming local government election slated for October this year.
The state chairman of the party, Rufus Bature, who said the party has not made up its mind either to participate or not, stated that there is a fear that what befell the party in Adamawa and other opposition parties in other states might happen in Plateau, where the party in power wins all the local governments.
“It is not certain that we would participate in the local government election unless there is clear evidence and assurance that the rules governing the exercise will be obeyed. We want to avoid the issues that affected other parties in Delta and Adamawa states recently.
“Also, we are still evaluating the pronouncement of the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) vis-à-vis the Supreme Court’s decision. A technical committee is advising the party on whether or not to participate in the election,” Bature stated.
In the recent Supreme Court judgment on local government financial autonomy, the chairman, who was a former Secretary to the Plateau Government, said the apex court no doubt delivered a landmark judgment that is capable of injecting sanity into the local government administration but added amendments to the constitution are necessary for the proper existence of local governments.
He equally charged the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission to follow the judgment of the Supreme Court strictly by ensuring that no local government under the Transition Implementation Committee or caretakers receives their monthly allocations.
“When the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission planned salaries for political stakeholders or leaders at the local government level, they never envisaged transition committees. Therefore, the provision made for salaries was for elected representatives. Any payments made to transition committees are illegal and against the provisions of the Constitution as set by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission.”
According to him, the situation is worse in Plateau State; ejected local government chairmen were sacked by the governor, and caretakers were put in place, adding that with the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, the government was supposed to return the sacked elected chairmen to allow them to complete their tenure, which would have expired by October.
“The government should have allowed them to return to their offices. Plateau has a history of disobeying court orders, but as a party, we are discussing the way forward. Now, anything outside of elected local governments should not have access to local government funds.
“Plateau’s issue is unique but can be resolved easily by allowing the former chairmen to return to their offices since their removal was illegal. The Supreme Court’s judgment clearly stated that no governor has the right to remove any elected official. The tenure of the chairmen ends in October, and the PLASIEC has scheduled elections for October.
“Above all, there is the need for constitutional amendment; this is necessary to provide proper guidelines for local government administration. Without these amendments, effective autonomy might be challenging to achieve,” he said.
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