A Lokoja High Court has held that the indefinite manning of affairs of council areas by directors of local government in Kogi State was unlawful.
Delivering judgement on the suit filed by some chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, led by its chairman, Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, the trial judge and chief judge of the state, Justice Nasiru Ajanah, ruled that their appointment to fill the vacuum created by the exit of the former council chairmen, after their tenure had elapsed, was unlawful.
He therefore ordered the state independent electoral commission to fix a date for the conduct of a local government poll within 45 days, commencing from the day the judgement was delivered.
He posited further that the order had become necessary so as to enhance Section 7 (1) of the Constitution, which made it mandatory for the system of the local government administration to be through democratic means.
According to him, the attitude of government was willful and negligent, by not taking the necessary steps to conduct election at the grassroots level after the expiration of the tenure of the former chairmen, as the claimants had pointed out.
Similarly, Justice Ajanah also held that the provision of Section 56 of the Local Government Law 2008, which established the transition committee, was unconstitutional, null and void.
Reacting to the judgement, counsel to the claimants, Shaibu Aruwa said it would go a long way in entrenching good governance in the state.
He described the verdict as a bold one, adding that it had only confirmed that the judiciary in the state was setting a good example.