By Philip Eke, Yenagoa
The Centre for Women’s Rights and Development Initiative has appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the attorney general of the federation to intervene in the alleged plot to suspend Alice Tangi, the chairperson of the Sagbamacouncil area in Bayelsa.
The group’s executive director, Marilyn Okoro, made the call in a statement on Thursday. She alleged that the Bayelsa government, through the State House of Assembly and Sagbama legislative council, planned to suspend and remove Ms Tangi from office.
Ms Okoro described the alleged move as unconstitutional, anti-democratic and a direct assault on local government autonomy, women’s political participation and the rule of law.
She said Ms Tangi remained the only woman elected as a local government chairperson in Bayelsa under the current democratic dispensation and the second in history.
According to her, the alleged plot to suspend and remove Ms Tangi constitutes a direct affront to women and a betrayal of democratic principles.
She said every Nigerian, including elected local government chairpersons, enjoyed the constitutional right to freedom of association without intimidation, coercion or threats of political removal.
“No citizen is under legal or moral obligation to join any political party. Political affiliation must remain a matter of personal conviction and free will, not compulsion, coercion or the threat of removal from office. It cannot be a ground for the impeachment of an elected official with a legal tenure,” Ms Okoro said.
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Ms Okoro said neither the governor nor the parliament possessed constitutional powers to remove an elected local government chairperson before the expiration of their tenure.
She noted that the Supreme Court, in its July 11, 2024, judgement, granted full financial and administrative autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 councils.
She said the apex court directed that federal allocations be paid directly to local governments and prohibited governors from dissolving elected councils across Nigeria.
Ms Okoro urged the AGF to intervene immediately and halt any planned unconstitutional suspension or removal of the council chairperson. She said any attempt to remove Ms Tangi would undermine local government autonomy, a constitutional principle consistently promoted by Mr Tinubu.
She also urged the AGF to safeguard Ms Tangi’s tenure and direct security agencies to guarantee her safety throughout her remaining period in office.
Ms Okoro further called for continued payment of statutory allocations directly to the Sagbama local council in line with the Supreme Court judgement.
She appealed to Bayelsa women and other Nigerians to defend Ms Tangi against what she described as politically motivated intimidation targeting female political office holders.
