Some local government councils in Lagos State are currently experiencing what some lawmakers have described as a time bomb that could blow up the chances of the ruling party in the state in both the forthcoming council and state elections.
These crises have come in the form of serious internal squabbles mainly between the affected council chairmen and councillors; and this is already affecting the fortunes of the Action Congress of Nigeria in the state. Some of the affected councils include Orile Agege, Oshodi Isolo, Ojodu and Surulere.
In the case of the Surulere LGA, the in-fighting has resulted in the council chairman, Tajudeen Ajide and the councillors abandoning their duties for fear of attack.
Though the councillors, who have already bought the sentiments of some top party chieftains in the state, accused Ajide of corruption and high-handedness in their petition to the state Assembly, sources close to the chairman told Huhuonline.com that Ajide is a victim of greed, as he has refused to continue doling out cash to the politicians like his predecessors.
“The chairman had always wanted to work. If he shares the money among them, what will be left to execute his agenda for the people?” the source asked.
In a petition addressed to Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji and titled: Re: Resolution of Surulere Local Government Council Crisis, some party leaders recommended the suspension without pay of the council’s Vice Chairman, the Secretary to the Local Government and two supervisors believed to have been pushing the councillors against the Chairman.
Signed by Alhaji L.B. Odunsi, Col. R.O. Ajala (Rtd) and Chief D.A. Adenekan, the party chieftains said their recommendation followed the report of a committee set up to look into the remote causes of the crisis in the council. They explained that none of the councillors attended the series of reconciliation meetings called by the committee.
The crisis in the council has resulted in factions among the council appointees and staff. There have been various protests by loyalists of the warring parties, to the extent that the House of Assembly constituted an ad-hoc committee to investigate the issues raised.
When the committee visited the area recently, its members were attacked by aggrieved residents who also attacked the council chairman. A visibly angry Chairman of the House Committee, Rotimi Abiru, who condemned the unruly attitude of the residents, vowed to carry out his duty without fear or favour.
“When we got there, we saw some of the projects he claimed to have done while some to us do not exist,” he said. “Beyond all that, the unruly behaviour of some residents of Surulere Local Government needs to be properly addressed because right there at the council, the chairman was molested and harassed and we were equally shouted upon but we were able to do what we actually went there to do.”
The accusation against Chairman of Ojodu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) insthe State, Mr. Julius Oloro is that through his actions, he is already running the party aground in the area. Asides the cold relationship with his subordinates and other appointees, he was alleged to have recently molested a youth leader, thereby causing friction between his council and the youths in the area.
The youth leader, Dimeji Ogunlana, who was an ad-hoc staff of the council for the enumeration of the residents of the area, was allegedly beaten up at the chairman’s house located beside Beulaland Hotels on Anipupo Street, Okeira, Ogba when he visited the house with two of his colleagues for the exercise. It was learnt that the council chairman who should have resolved the issue when he came out from his house further slapped the youth leader for allegedly disturbing the peace of the area.
At a meeting held recently by party chieftains and youths of the area, the party members were enraged that Oloro refused to show up for the resolution of issues against him. Sources said the youths have resolved to work against him should he decide to run again for the seat.
Chairman of Oshodi-Isolo Local Government council, Bolaji Ariyoh is also having serious issues with the councilors, as he was accused of chasing them away from the council chamber with thugs two weeks ago while they were holding a sitting.
Since then, none of the councillors has dared to enter the council for fear of being attacked.
According to the councillors, the sitting was held to impeach the leader and his deputy considered to be thwarting efforts of the councillors to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against the chairman. But soon after the impeachment, the thugs attacked. The situation has resulted in protests and tension in the council.
A petition against the chairman, signed by five of the seven councillors in the council, to the State House of Assembly, listed a lot of atrocities, including the collection of a massive N280m loan without legislative consent and approval and forceful collection of huge sums of money from the fund given to councillors in the last election.“The chairman spent a whooping sum of 150m on the construction of drainage and road at Mulikat Kayode Street and Ayodele street which are less than 200 metres in length and in the same place,” the petition read, adding that most of the projects he began at the inception of his administration are now at different stages of abandonment. The chairman, who is allegedly preparing to seek another Loan, is said to have run the council dry because his administration is indebted to the tune of N400m.
“By his indebtedness, our JAC is subjected to a payment of N17m on a monthly basis for a period of 24 months. This is causing real hardship on members of staff, political office holders, ACN members and the people at large,” the councillors alleged, adding that he boasts with his closeness to National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, each time there is an altercation.
When the matter came up on the floor of the House, a member, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade urged the House to urgently rescue the councils before the consequence befalls the party. He said he was privy to a situation in a council where the chairman issued query to all the councillors mandating them to respond within 24 hours or they would be shut out, adding that the councillors were preparing a petition against the council chairman.
“As I am saying this, another case is coming before this House where a chairman had to issue query to councillors and gave them 24 hours within which to answer the query else they would be shut out,” Agunbiade said, adding that the council chairmen have now assumed the position of semi-gods.
Taking a swipe at the council chairmen for being politically ignorant, Ikuforii said: “our operators at that (Local Government) level do not have the prerequisite knowledge and education and we are guilty. If a council chairman has knowledge of the constitution that he operates or the law that sets up the council, the chairman will not wake up and issue a query to the councillors.
“When I say education, you should understand that I am not talking about their secondary or tertiary education; I mean education on democracy and the type of government we have in place. We have a lot of problems in our hands and some of these problems can only be taken care of by this House.”
He then asked the House Committee on Local Government Administration and Chieftaincy Affairs to investigate the allegations and report to the House within a week.
