Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has described the illegal removal of Local Government Area (LGA) chairpersons by state governors as a “treasonable offence,” urging swift action to halt this unconstitutional practice.
Speaking at an event organised by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja on Wednesday, Fagbemi, represented by Tijani Gazali, Director of Civil Appeals in the Ministry of Justice, slammed the growing trend of state governors and state assemblies interfering with local government administration.
He noted that such actions directly violate both the Nigerian Constitution and a recent Supreme Court ruling that prohibits this interference.
“It is unfortunate that over the last few decades, local governments have become mere appendages of state governments, reduced to tools for generating additional funds,” Fagbemi said, calling out the unconstitutional collaboration between governors and state houses of assembly in dismissing democratically elected local government officials without following due process.
Fagbemi pointed to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in 2024, which outlawed the illegal removal of elected local councils by state governors.
Yet, he claimed that several states continue to defy this decision.
He characterized these actions as “tantamount to treason” and urged that they be treated as such.
His comments come at a critical time, as Osun State grapples with a deepening crisis over the status of sacked LGA chairpersons. The controversy erupted after a Court of Appeal ruling on February 10, which involved the dismissal of local government officials in 2022.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insists the ruling did not reinstate the sacked officials, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) argues the opposite.
Violence erupted in some LGA secretariats in Osun on Monday, following clashes between supporters of the PDP and APC. Tragically, several individuals, including former Irewole LGA Chairman Remi Abbas, were killed in the unrest.
