Posted by The governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has been accused by the state’s suspended local government chairmen of acting illegally and with impunity.
They made the charge while criticizing the state governor for suspending them after taking office.
Alia suspended all of the state’s local government chairmen and their council members indefinitely under the proposal of the state House of Assembly.
A letter from Ode Ochelle, the permanent secretary of the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, delivered the governor’s instruction.
The chairmen of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, or ALGON, in response swore never to submit to such illegality and emphasized that they would not resign from their positions.
The state’s chairman of ALGON, Mike Uba, reiterated to reporters on Saturday that they will resume work on Monday.
According to Uba, a current court ruling mandates that they be allowed to serve out their terms without interruption.
“We state without the slightest modicum of ambiguity or prevarication that we do not recognize such purported reporting of our suspension from office from such quarters that are purporting it, nor do we consider ourselves under any obligation to give heed to same or comply with any directive as emanates from it,” Uba said.
“Our position is based on the undeniable fact that our offices are products of law, protected by the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution (as amended in 1999), which recognizes the level of government we work at as the third in a triangle consisting of the Federal, State, and Local.
“We will not accept the impunity and criminality that are being used against us.
“We will be failing Benue State if we submit to the unlawful purported suspension sought against us.”