2 weeks Ago By Adewale Ajayi
Human rights groups have condemned the decision of the Lagos state House of Assembly to sanction the chairman of Alimosho local government area, Jelili Suleiman. The groups said the action of the House contravenes the Supreme Court ruling, which granted local government autonomy. The human rights groups staged a protest at the state House of Assembly and stated that, in line with the Supreme Court ruling, the councilors of the local government area vested with the power to sanction council chairman and report back to the House of Assembly the outcome of their decision.
Lagos House of Assembly had Monday placed the chairman of Alimosho local government, Jelili Suleiman, on indefinite suspension for gross misconduct. Speaking on behalf of the group, the deputy speaker of Lagos People Assembly, Kola Emmanuel, said in as much that the National Assembly cannot usurp the role of the state assembly, it is wrong for the state lawmakers to usurp the role of the councilors “Lagos state House of Assembly will not want the National Assembly to take over their responsibility as legislator of Lagos state. So, in that manner, we are asking Lagos House of Assembly to tell Nigerians if they are actually against the president of Nigeria, who has deemed it fit to pursue a case at the Supreme Court of Nigeria in order to give autonomy to local governments.
” Speaking in the same vein, Comrade Shina Loremikan, the national coordinator of Campaign Against Impunity said there is no law except what the court says. “The Supreme Court says there should be autonomy for the local governments, which means if any local government chairman does anything wrong, he can only be disciplined by the councilors.”.
