Discordant Tune In Kwara PDP Over Suit Withdrawal

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It began on the 18th of June when the Kwara State House of Assembly recommended the suspension of the state Local Government chairmen. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq accepted the recommendation a few hours later  and consequently ordered the LG bosses suspended for a period of six months.  The  suspended local government chairmen rejected the suspension order and proceeded to court seeking judicial support to return to office.  The 16 suspended local government chairmen  had filed contempt charges against the governor and the state House of Assembly at the state High Court, Ilorin  arguing that their suspension by the governor  was against the judgment of a state High Court  delivered a few days earlier which barred him and the state House of Assembly from dissolving or suspending the local government chairmen who have  up till November 2020 to complete their three-year tenure of office.  While many had patiently awaited what would be the outcome of the legal battle, they announced decision to withdraw the suit against the governor.

 In a statement made available to  Global Excellence on Friday, which was signed by  Hon. Joshua Omokanye and  Hon. Abubakar Abdullahi Bata who are  the state ALGON Chairman and Secretary respectively, the suspended LG chairmen gave reasons for withdrawing the suit  and also disagreed with the leadership of the state PDP objecting to the stance maintained by the party.  ‘We the Local Government Council Chairmen in Kwara State dissociate ourselves from the statement that emanated from the Office of the State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party,( PDP),  that we were pressurized to trade off the suit against the  Kwara State Government. We state categorically that we were not forced and not under any parochial sentiment to step down the legal suit against the state governor and others. It is pertinent to reiterate our position that we considered it expedient to withdraw the case willingly and it was done to enable us clear our names by attending to the invitation of the Kwara State House of Assembly.

It must also be noted that Kwara State House of Assembly is the arm of government that has the constitutional responsibility to invite Local Government Council Chairmen for questioning. We cannot afford to decline the invitation because it is not advisable to throw away the baby with the bath water.  The action was voluntarily taken  to ensure  a diplomatic solution  to the suspension impasse for the overall benefit of the good people of the state. It is also important to state without mincing words that our case is premised on opportunity offer to clear our names which will subsequently promote speedy socioeconomic progress of the state. It will be good for anyone to desist from linking the development with betrayal of political leader because no one influences our decision to use legal means in the first instance. It would be recalled that when a similar case was recorded  in Ekiti State, there were opportunities created for addressing the state legislative arm during the impasse and resolution was reached for the good of the state’, the ALGON officials submitted.