Sacked Council Chairmen Crisis: State House Assembly Vows Not to Approve New Sole Administrators for Governor Lalong

Yakubu Busari

“We are still discussing on the issue, ” says Police Commissioner, Oki

It is not yet uhuru, neither is there any solution around the corner for the ongoing crisis between Governor Simon Lalong and the recently sacked seventeen council chairmen. This is as this medium learnt from a source that the State House of Assembly has vowed not to approve the sole administrator’s nominee list when it is presented to them by the Governor.

However, the Governor in his recent comment on that issue on Monday has vowed that there is no going back on the appointment of Sole Administrators adding that the dissolution of the former council chairmen is just a popular view of the people.

Speaking with newsmen briefly after nearly a two hour close door meeting at Plateau State Police Command Headquarters with the sacked council Chairmen, Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Oki disclosed told newsmen; “we are still having discussion on the issue”.

It would be recall that after the dissolution of the seventeen council chairmen council Chairmen by Governor Simon Lalong, the Governor gave directive that the Commissioner of Police and DPMs should immediately ensure security of lives and properties at all the Councils while the DPMs assume administrative responsibility in place of the former sack chairmen.

The Commissioner of Police who earlier refused to make comment on the development that the Police blocked all the roads leading to all the Local Government Areas Headquarters debunked that all the areas are safe for people to move.

He explained further that he will be going into another close door session with the governor to resolve the crisis amicably after appealing for calm.

Universalreporters247.com gathered that the sacked council chairmen protested the illegal removal of their tenure by calling on the appropriate authority to intervene.

However, our correspondent gathered from a source that the State House of Assembly has vow not to endorse the list of the newly appointed sole administrators who are waiting to be sworn-in this week.

The group of sacked Chairmen led by the former chairman of Mangu Local Government, Hon. Caleb Mutfwang condemned it as abuse of power to dissolve council Chairmen when their tenure of office is still pending.

He accused the government of Lalong for truncating their tenure by not following the   due process.

Plateau state Governor Simon Bako Lalong, on Monday said that there is no going back on decision that dissolved the 15 Local Government Councils in the State. He said the dissolution of the Local Government Councils is a popular view of the People of the state.

Lalong said: “Our Local Government Councils cannot continue to sit down when we have cases of monumental corruption, we have set out a committee and I say if anyone doubts it, we will reveal it to the committee.”

He added that: “Necessary machinery will be taken to tackle the issue of corruption in the Local Government Councils level and let me use this opportunity to talk to those of you who will be privileged to come into the Local Government Councils, to know that it is not going to be business as usual.”

According to him they have zero tolerance on corruption, the Federal Government has zero tolerance on the issue of corruption, “We are also going to have a zero tolerance on corruption, that is why we ensure that we are starting on a very clean level at the Local Government  level, so that is part of the reasons for our dissolution, even though I don’t want to go too far on the issue and some people will say they have gone to court or what I don’t know, but that the Government have taken its decision and we are not going back on that decision.”

He urged for continuous prayer and support to President Muhammadu Buhari, saying; “He is a wonderful man, in the history of Nigeria things that have been forgotten, relations that have been forgotten by the international communities in less than one month people are now building confidence on Nigeria. Because of transparency and the way manner you conducted your selves in the last elections, where votes counted that is why we have a president that is well respected all over the world.”