A High Court in Abak, Akwa Ibom State, has declared as illegal, the local government caretaker committees in the state.
The 31 local government areas in the state have been run for about two years now by chairpersons handpicked by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel.
But the court presided over by Justice Ezekiel Enang declared on Tuesday that the setting up of the caretaker committees was unlawful because they were alien to the Nigerian Constitution.
The court, accordingly, ordered Governor Emmanuel to dissolve the caretaker committees immediately.
A lawyer, Mr. Nsikak Akai of the Nsikak Akai and Associates, Abak, who filed the suit against the Akwa Ibom State government and Mr. Emmanuel, said he checked through the Nigerian constitution but could not find any provisions that empowered the governor to set up caretaker committees to run the local governments in the state.
Mr. Akai said he was happy for the judgment, describing it as a victory for democracy and the people of the state.
“For once, Akwa Ibom people can hold their governor to account subsequently whenever a governor intends to or even contemplate appointing caretaker committees in the state,” he said.
“The grievance we had was that the persons that were being appointed as caretakers were only answerable to their benefactors who see them as stooges, while the people bear the brunt.
“Once we have elected representatives at the grassroots level, then we can hold them to account,” Akai said.
However, the State’s Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko, said the state government would appeal the judgment.