The Alimosho Local Government Council in Lagos has filed a lawsuit against the Lagos State House of Assembly at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing the Assembly of undue and unlawful interference in its operations.
In a court summons obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, the Council requested the court to rule that the Assembly and its Speaker lack constitutional authority to conduct oversight over the Council’s activities.
The plaintiffs argued that the Assembly has no legal right to oversee the affairs of a democratically elected local government executive, which operates with its own legislative council.
The co-plaintiff in the case is the Chairman of the Council, Hon. Sulaimon Jelili. Respondents in the suit include the Lagos State House of Assembly, the Speaker, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, the Inspector-General of Police, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, and the State Security Service.
In the suit filed by their lawyer, Dr. Abdul Mahmud, the plaintiffs aim to assert the autonomy and independence of local governments, citing a recent Supreme Court decision in support of their stance.
“The point the suit emphasizes is that local governments are not executive agencies of the Lagos state government that the Speaker, Hon Mudashiru Obasa, can exercise oversight functions over.
“The local government, as a separate arm of government, has its legislative arm that rightly regulates those areas like markets that the Constitution has donated powers,” they contended
On the facts of the suit, the plaintiffs alleged that the Assembly, led by Speaker Obasa, vide a resolution dated Aug. 27, instructed the Chairman of the local government to disengage one of the Council’s contractors, Mr. Omotolani Adedayo.
In the resolution, the Assembly directed the Council that, after disengaging Adedayo, it should enter into a formal contractual agreement with one Mr. Ejigbadero Abiodun.
The Speaker allegedly threatened that, if the Council Chairman refused to comply with the resolution and the directive of the house, he would be suspended.
In an affidavit deposed to, by the Secretary of Alimoso Council, Dare Ogunkoya, he said, the Council Chairman is constitutionally saddled with the duties and functions for establishment, maintenance, and regulation of markets, parks, and garages within its jurisdiction.
Ogunkoya said that his constituents had, on numerous occasions, approached the council that they did not want the said Abiodun, being imposed by the Assembly, to collect tolls in the market.
He said the complaint by the constituents was communicated to the Assembly through a letter dated Sept. 4 by the plaintiffs.
According to him, the action of the Assembly amounted to intimidation and usurpation of powers of the Council Chairman.
The plaintiffs therefore sought the court declaration that, by the combined reading and interpretation of Sections 7 and Item 1(e) of the fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, they are the only body permitted by the Constitution to establish, maintain, and regulate markets within their jurisdiction.
They sought the court declaration that the resolution of the Assembly was null and void for having no basis in law.
The plaintiffs also urged the court to declare that the Assembly has no constitutional powers to suspend the Council Chairman.
They urged the court to restrain the defendants from suspending the Council Chairman.
Speaking with NAN, Mahmud, the plaintiff’s lawyer said the court processes had been served on all the respondents, but no date has been fixed for its hearing.
The lawyer noted that the resolution of the matter would set another precedent in the nation’s Jurisprudence, as it relates to Local Government autonomy.
“The suit is coming on the heels of the recent Supreme Court decision in Suit No: SC/CV/343/2024 AG Federation V AG Abia State & 35 Ors which granted autonomy to local government.
“The existence and independence of the Local Government is still under threat from various quarters.
‘The Court’s interpretation of the questions put before it will further strengthen earlier decisions on the autonomy of local government” he said.
Meanwhile, NAN reports that the House of Assembly on Monday suspended the embattled Council Chairman, indefinitely
The decision, which was reportedly reached during Monday’s plenary session, came after lawmakers voted unanimously to remove Sulaimon over allegations of misconduct and defiance of the legislative House.
The Vice Chairman of the Council, Mr. Akinpelu Johnson, was directed to assume control of the council’s affairs.
Reacting to the development, however, Mahmud said the purported suspension of his client was unconstitutional and constituted a blatant affront to the recent decision of the Supreme Court which affirmed the autonomy of local government under the 1999 Constitution.
He added that the action of the legislative house and the Speaker, when they had been served with the court document, is subjudice, and a deliberate attempt to ambush and foist helplessness on the court.
The lawyer assured that the coercive actions of the Speaker and the encroachment of the Assembly on the constitutional powers of the local government would be resisted within the bounds of laws.(NAN)
