Sokoto State Government has defended the amendments made to the Local Government Law of 2009, stating that the changes were necessary to advance good governance and not intended to undermine the Sultanate Council.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a recent interview, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Sokoto State, Nasiru Mohammed Binji, explained that the amendments were proposed to correct drafting errors and ensure that the law aligns with the Nigerian Constitution.
The Attorney General noted that the amendments included increasing the tenure of elected chairmen and councillors from two to three years, giving the State Independent Electoral Commission the power to determine the amount for nomination forms, and correcting the provision related to the appointment of Village and District Heads.
He stated that the governor, Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, is a Democrat who believes in consulting widely and valuing a wide range of perspectives and his actions are guided by the Constitution and a desire to serve the people.
Binji also highlighted the governor’s commitment to local government autonomy, which is part of his 9-Point Smart Agenda. He noted that the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government administration confirmed the governor’s position.
In his words: “For the record, there was no mischief intended, and the amendment was proposed in good faith. There were about four or five amendments made to the law. The first was in respect of Section 13 of the law that changed the tenure of elected chairmen and councillors.
” The first amendment was to change the tenure of the Chairmen and Councillors from two(2) to three(3) years. You may wish to recall that the governor ran the 2023 governorship elections on Local Government Autonomy. It’s one of his 9-Point Smart Agenda. And as someone with good knowledge about the local government system he has always believed that the councils can deliver the goods if given the necessary support. And the question is what can an elected chairman achieve in two (2) years? So the governor in his wisdom deemed it fit to increase their tenure to enable them to initiate and execute projects. And, again the governor thought that it would be the best thing to align the Sokoto State law with what is obtained in the FCT where they have a tenure of four(4) years. It would interest you to know that before now the tenure was three (3) years before it was changed to two (2) years in 2016 by the immediate past administration. The governor is a fair-minded person. His argument which can’t be faulted is if truly the local government is a third tier of government why won’t its elected officials enjoy a reasonable tenure? The President, Governors and members of the state and national assembly all have a four (4) year tenure so why subject the councils to a two (2) years tenure? So he thought the best thing to do was to revert back, to the accepted three(3) years.
“For chairmen and councillors, yes. The amendment was in respect of Section 13, then the other amendment…Section 14 was with respect to the amount of money for the purchase of nomination forms for the Chairmanship position, and councillors. Before the amendment, the nomination form for the chairman was N50,000 and N25,000 for councillors, amounts that were definitely outdated because it was made in 2002. So the governor thought this amount was not realistic considering cost of conducting the election. So again the governor thought it better to give the State Independent Electoral Commission the power to determine the amount to be paid for nomination forms. So this would guide against any government in future having to push for the amendment of this particular section.
“In amending the law we equally looked at what obtains at the federal level and in some other states. At the federal level, it’s the Independent National Electoral Commission which determines, decides on how much contestants have to pay for nomination forms. …so this matter is rested. The next amendment was in respect of Section 76 of the Local Government Law as it relates to the functions of the Sultanate Council in the appointment of Districts and Villages Heads. For lack of a better word, I would call the problem of this section a drafting error, because in the previous provision the Sultanate Council was given the power to appoint Village and District Heads. But under the Nigerian constitution, executive powers under Section 5(2) of the Constitution, are vested in the governor. It is only the governor that can appoint, while the Sultanate Council recommends. The government took a good look at it because the law was unconstitutional. The government looked at it critically and concluded that appointment is an executive function.”
He explained further: “The practice which is common knowledge is that the Sultanate Council recommends to the governor people that are deemed qualified and eligible for appointment as village and District Heads. That has been the practice, so we thought it was better to amend this provision, to regularize it and to correct the error I talked about earlier. This was simply what we did, but somehow it was misunderstood.
He emphasised that the changes were not intended to ridicule the Sultanate Council or depose the Sultan.
“The rumour by some faceless groups that the amendment was a plot by the government to depose the Sultan was highly unfair, unfounded and politically motivated. At every opportunity I had made it abundantly clear that they were misdirecting themselves because the law about the deposition of the Sultan was different from the law that was before the House of Assembly for amendment. Section 76, of the Local Government Law makes it clear that this provision relates only to the appointment of Village and District Heads, no more, no less.
“The law governing the appointment of His Eminence the sultan is governed entirely by a different law, which is the Chiefs Appointment and Deposition Law and we never contemplated amending. It is, as it were, nobody touched that law. Like I said before the mischief makers woefully failed and Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto emerged stronger from the contrived attempt to drag his name in the mud.
” If there are sufficient grounds we won’t be deterred by the mischief makers from doing what is best for the state. Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto will never succumb to mobs and I think this statement was made and has been understood. Amendments to laws like I said earlier is a constant fact of life. So, the law can still be subjected to further amendments, because after the amendments by the Sokoto State House of Assembly, the Supreme Court made its decision in respect to local government administration. Again, the judgement showed my Governor as someone ahead of his time. His firm belief in the local government system shows that his Local Government Autonomy agenda is well thought out.”
