Oyo State chapter of Socialist Party of Nigeria, (SPN), on Monday declared the appointment of Caretaker Chairmen for the 33 Local governments and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by Governor Seyi Makinde was unlawful and undemocratic.
The party stated this in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan by its State Secretary, Comrade Ayodeji Adigun.
In the statement, SPN emphasized that the appointment was in violation of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Our major concern is that the appointment of the caretaker’s chairmen is a flagrant violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Asides the fact that the Nigeria constitution does not recognize the appointment of caretaker chairmen as the legitimate heads of administration of the local government authority, the 35 LCDA which the appointed caretakers chairmen are also expected to preside over is illegal and unlawful as they are not individually and collectively known to the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria as well.”, it said.
The party quickly added, “our rejection of the illegality perpetrated by Makinde government is not an endorsement of the APC/Ajimobi anointed sacked LGA and LCDA chairmen who emerged through an illegal and fraudulent process,” .
SPN stressed further, “even if there was no court order or injunction that retrained the conduct of the May 12, 2018 LGA election, as claimed by the Aleshinloye-led ALGON, the fact remains that the conduct of the so-called LGA election was a violation of the Constitution of federal Republic of Nigeria”, saying, “for instance, none of the electoral wards and Local government areas used by the OYSIEC to conduct the election was recognized by the constitution”.
” It is in the light of this that we of the SPN concludes that both the appointed caretaker chairmen and the purportedly elected Aleshinloye-led ALGON chairmen are illegal and undemocratic. Therefore, we demand, as the way forward out of this ridiculous political imbroglio, that the Engr Seyi Makinde-led government concretely and democratically commence the process to organize a democratic election that will be free from all forms of manipulation and malpractices.”
SPN noted, “we strongly hold that one of the ways to commence the process to organize a credible election is to reconstitute OYSIEC such that it will comprise representatives of political parties and elected representatives of trade unions and professional bodies like NBA, etc.”, adding, “we call on trade unions, civil society organisations, NBA, youth and working masses of Oyo state to support and echo this demand”
It maintained that “however, we also recognize, how difficult or impossible it will be for the Engr Seyi Makinde-led government like other previous pro-capitalist governments in the state to conduct a LGA election that will be democratic, fair and free of all forms of manipulation.”
“Given the fact that it is a government that was formed through a coalition of parasitic pro-capitalist political parties, the regime will not be interested in a credible LGA election but a kind of LGA election that will give room for manipulation such that the regime will be to ensure that political positions are shared among members of political parties that are involved in the so called coalition. The decision by the regime to also recognize the 35 LCDA after it earlier acknowledge it to be illegal is also not unconnected with dubious motive to make more political positions available for sharing among the political acolytes and stooges.”
SPN stated “it is in the light of this, that we call on labour and mass organizations including Nigeria Bar Association and student bodies that beyond agitations and clamors for credible LGA elections and local government autonomy is to join and support the SPN and help build it as a strong party that is capable of defeating all anti-poor political parties including the APC and PDP and form a government”
