The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State has described the suspension of the 17 local government chairmen and their Councilors by Governor Caleb Muftwang as an act of impunity.
Recall that Governor Muftwang last week suspended the chairmen based on the recommendation of the State House of Assembly alleging financial impropriety and flagrant disobedience to the House.
Addressing newsmen, the State Publicity Secretary of APC, Hon Slyvanus Namang said the decision of the PDP-led administration to suspend the chairmen less than one week in office was an act of intolerance and impunity.
He narrated that the suspension was carried out without recourse to the constitution and due process, adding that they are democratically elected and therefore ought to be treated in line with the law which established them.
“For all intents and purposes, the actions of the House of Assembly presided over by a so- called Speaker, Ayuba Nuhu Abok, whose seat had since October 2021 been declared vacant but who was brought back through the back door under a clearly disputed High Court judgment which has been appealed against and the Governor are premeditated and a clear vendetta which is capable of not only generating bad blood and creating a high-level political instability in the state which is an avoidable step by the less than one week administration in the state.
“It is premeditated because it is imperative to note that the Chairman of the Plateau State House of Assembly Committee on Local Government Affairs was not consulted by the so – called leadership of the House of Assembly to ascertain whether the Local Government Chairmen had complied with the directive to them or not before the rushed decision.
“We are aware that the Chairmen have filed a motion for interlocutory injunction to restrain the governor from suspending or truncating the tenure of the Local Government Chairmen and their Legislative Arms” he said.
Namang stated that APC aligned itself with their patriotic steps taken by the chairmen and Councillors given the prevailing fragile peace in the State adding that they have no force of brute power but rely on the force of the law which they believe will prevail.
He added that the governor’s action was a misguided and ill-timed step and has the potency of putting the governance machinery in the State in a reverse gear.
“We are afraid that Plateau State, in spite of earlier pretentious promises of good governance and government of unity by the governor, is creeping back into an era of despondency and needless political upheaval.
“Without sounding immodest, the breakneck speed and desperation with which Governor Caleb Mutfwang carried out the action betrays his improper understanding of governance process much more for a new Government that has just come on board and has not adequately appraised the socio- economic, political and developmental situations on ground.
“Furthermore, our reading of the entire scenario readily points to the fact that some political witch-hunt and mischief have been contemplated and perfected to impugn the integrity of the Local Government Council Chairmen who were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and whose tenure is yet to elapse until October 2024”
“Otherwise, how else can we interpret the rationale behind the unconscionable violation of due process in the actions of the Executive Governor and a section of the Plateau State House of Assembly?
“Our reservation about the whole saga is how the so-called suspension of the Council Chairmen by the House of Assembly based on a faceless petitioner, was quickly followed up, without investigation, with approval by the Executive Governor who ought, as a lawyer, to know that such action is a direct affront on principle of fair-hearing.
Namang therefore advised the governor to be a man of himself and his words and no impression ought to be created that he is being teleguided to embark on illegalities and impunity which the past PDP in the state was discredited for.
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