‘O to ge’ wind still blowing

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If the action was taken some years ago, some of us would have described it as impunity walking in all fours in the state.

Others would have cited examples of governors that have done it in the past and got away with it.

Well, no matter the side of the divide you are, the issue is that the ‘o te ga’ governor of Kwara State AbudulRazaq Abudulrahman, is beginning to bare his fangs and the executive committees of the state’s16 local government areas are the first victim of his no nonsense stance.

He has suspended them for six months for offence ranging from diversion, wastage, embezzlementĀ  to misappropriation of the council’s funds. For six solid months the members of the committee with their chairmen and women will be out of office. They will stand suspended for half a year until the investigation to determine if they are guilty of the offence they are accused of is proven.

But before you accuse the brand new governor who has come to recuse the people of Kwara from the grips of the Saraki dynasty and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of highhandedness, let us remind you that the governor acted on the directives of the state’s house of assembly, which in a resolution passed on June 18 2019, based on petition in its possession, urged him to put the committee members in the cooler for six months. It was not an arbitrary decision or action.

And as one of his supporters put it, the action of the governor stands on all four!

One, the supporter said, “he relied on the resolution of the house of assembly, which recommended the suspension of the LG excos and legislative council.

“Two, Section 29 of the LG Law was never in contention in the matter before the court.

“Critics of the governor’s step should please read His Excellency’s statement again.

“The statement said they were being suspended pending outcome of the investigation. They were not dissolved!”

According to the supporter who pleaded not to be named “If you keep the people alleged to have done something wrong in office, isn’t it a possibility that such persons could interfere with the probe? ”

And the Supreme Court judgment was about dissolution of the LGs. It wasn’t about suspension, which in this case is neither unilateral nor arbitrary.”

While it is very true that the governor was on the side of the law before acting on the directive conveyed in a letter signed by the speaker of the house, Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu, his critics are bothered at the timing of the action and the speed with which the motion was passed by a house inaugurated just two week ago

More worrisome to them is the fact that the suspension came days after the presidency and NFIU commenced the payment of the statutory allocation directly to the LGs in the federation and not the convoluted journey of passing it through the state governments before trickling down to the LG. To them, with local governments that have no ‘leadership’ in place now that the handpicked exco has been swept away, who spends the fund to executive the much needed infrastructure at the local level? Is it local government workers who are equally corrupt if not more corrupt than the sacked exco committees? What has the governor put in place to checkmate the kleptomia politicians at all levels?

They have also argued that it is a ploy by the governor to plant his men at the helms of affair of the LGs.

Will he at the end of the investigation that has led to their suspension, prosecute those found guilty to serve as a deterrent to others for them to know that the bad you do today, may catch up with you tomorrow.

Another of their worry has to do with the status of the LGs. Who is now in charge as the exco committees are gone and nature abhors vacuum. That, would it not have been better if he had also named their successors as he was sending them to the six months suspension.

They are also insinuating that he is only looking forĀ  ways and means of giving jobs to his boys and party men that he will subsequently appoint to replace the sacked excos who probably in turn, commit the same offence the once shown the exit are accused of.

Well for those of us who believe in good governance and accountability, whatever is done to engender both, provided it is backed by law, is welcomed. The nation cannot be pretending to be fighting corruption while those suspected to be men and women of questionable characters are allowed to operate as if it is still business as usual. Nigeria as it is now need men like AbdulRahman at the state level where corruption stinks to high heavens.

it must also be pointed out that the governor has placed his hands on theĀ  plough and cannot afford to look back. He must touch all areas of governance in the state to provide the dividends of democracy for which he was elected without fear, favour, affection or ill will.

By Charles Okogene

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