The attention of the Senator representing Benue South Senatorial District and Senate Minority Leader, Comrade Abba Patrick Moro, has been drawn to separate press statements issued by the governor of Benue State, Fr. Hyacinth Alia, and the APC candidate in the 2023 senatorial election in Benue South, Comr. Daniel Onjeh.
In the said statements, the duo took a swipe at Senator Abba Moro over his motion on the floor of the Senate on December 1, wherein he decried and condemned the illegal and unconstitutional dissolution of democratically elected councils and the appointment of caretaker committees to run local government areas in Benue State.
Governor Alia, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Tersoo Kula, and Comrade Onjeh alleged that Senator Moro distorted truth and misled the Senate with the well thought-out motion. They advised the Senate to trash the motion, stating that it was sponsored for a selfish purpose and to advance ulterior motives under the guise of advancing national interest.
We would not have bothered to dignify those poorly-written statements that are obviously borne out of ignorance of what democracy and rule of law entail, but for the benefit of the unsuspecting members of the public who may be misled and misinformed by the awful outings in the name of statements that are contradictory.
While Onjeh claimed that the elected councils were not dissolved but suspended, as recommended by the House of Assembly, Sir Tersoo Kula, claimed that the councils were actually dissolved but by the State House of Assembly that ”investigated, indicted and SACKED the 23 elected Chairmen who were found to have perpetrated monumental fraud in their councils in active connivance with their councillors.”
Even though Comrade Onjeh’s position on the status of the elected councils contradicts that of Sir Tersoo’s own, some questions begging for answers from the duo are, “Can the National Assembly recommend to the President to suspend an elected governor and he, the President, would acede to such a recommendation? If the elected councils in Benue are only suspended and not dissolved, according to Comrade Onjeh, have they been investigated and found guilty of any crime for them to be replaced by Caretaker Committees? And if they have been found guilty and SACKED, according to Tersoo, have the reports of the investigation that indicted them been made public? Were the councils given any hearing, let alone fair hearing, before their indictment and sack?
Has any higher court vacated the judgements of the Industrial Court and Makurdi High Court, which gave restraining orders that the tenure of the elected councils be not tampered with but allowed to run out their term? When did the House of Assembly screen the nominees for caretaker committee membership before they were announced by the governor? What is the tenure of the caretaker committees as prescribed by the Benue State House of Assembly?
Granted but not conceding that the government of Benue State appealed the judgements of the courts, is it a justification for appointing caretaker committees in place of elected councils? Can responsible and responsive government take any action on a matter that is before a court of competent jurisdiction? Should the officials of the government of Benue State not be committed to prison for contempt of the court?
It is amusing that Sir Tersoo Kula who variously referred to the elected council chairmen as “former chairmen” and affirmed that the Chairmen had been ‘sacked’ still insisted in the same statement that Senator Moro misled the Senate and Nigerians on the status of the Chairmen. Where’s the misleading information advanced by the senator? An urgent need for a psychiatric examination of people in the corridors of power in Government House in Makurdi is an imperative need.
It’s also laughable that Comrade Onjeh who pretended to want to be a Senator does not know that the system of local government by democratically elected councils is guaranteed by section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The Benue State Government and Comrade Onjeh must know that Senator Abba Moro has no special interest that he’s pursuing by sponsoring the motion. On the contrary, it is Onjeh and his co-travellers who nominated persons into the caretaker committees that pressurized the governor into this constitutional quagmire.
Senator Moro is only a democrat and patriotic citizen threading the path of justice, and wanting the right thing to be done. The constitution recognizes the local government as a vital element of the government of the federation, after the federal and state governments, that must be administered democratically. Anything short of that is unacceptable to all true democrats, and that’s why the motion was overwhelmingly supported by all the senators, including those from the APC fold.
Whether party A or party B, as was observed in the Senate on the penultimate day, what is wrong is wrong, party affiliation not withstanding.
Senator Moro, as a former council chairman, understands the importance of an effective and productive local government system, being the tier of government that’s closest to the people. He will continue to pursue reforms that will help to strengthen democracy and attract development at the grassroots.
He began the reform in the 9th Senate where he sponsored a bill on financial and administrative autonomy for local governments. The Bill could not get presidential assent because of its failure to get through the State Houses of Assembly, which, unfortunately, included the Benue State House of Assembly, as required by law. Senator Moro will reintroduce the Bill in the 10th Senate and we are optimistic that it will get the necessary support and passed into law this time.
Senator Moro is pro-people, as evident in his efforts all through his public life. The motion in question was not moved to get at the governor or protect any self-interests. It is solely to sanitize our political space, enforce the rule of law and deepen our democracy. Governor Alia and keen observers of the politics and government of Benue State know that Senator Abba Moro has been very supportive of the Fr. Alia-led government, so he has nothing against anybody.
The illegality and unconstitutionality of the dissolution of the elected councils has been acknowledged and condemned across party lines. Governor Alia and Onjeh should put aside party sentiment and personal interests and support the cause of democracy that Senator Abba Moro is trying to engender in our society, especially Benue State.
It is on record that since the ouster of the democratically elected council chairmen and councilors who have children and dependants to tend to in this harsh economic situation, they have not been paid their regular salaries and allowances. Whether dissolution or suspension, the reality of the situation is that the elected councils have been ousted from their constitutional duties and replaced with caretaker committees.
Senator Moro insists that it is illegal to release statutory federation allocation to these illegal and unconstitutional contraptions called caretaker committees. The elected councils must be reinstated, in accordance with the Industrial and High Courts rulings and resolution of the Senate.
Senator Moro stands solidly with democracy and the rule of law, and can take the bullet for them. He needs to be supported by all well-meaning Nigerians to insist that right things are done at all times.
The public is urged to discountenance the unthoughtful and conflicting statements by the duo of Sir Tersoo and Comrade Onjeh as they are meant to wilfully discredit the democracy-saving motion and its sponsor, mislead the people and shamelessly justify the illegality and unconstitutionality being perpetrated in Benue State.
