President Umaru Musa Yar

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Vs Governor Fashola: Between Constitutionalism And Politics On The “Contentious” LGA’s

Emeka Oraetoka

oramekllis@lycos.com

The genesis of the recent Federal Government directive to Lagos State government to revert back to original Twenty [20] local government areas recognized by the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria is well known to all to warrant elaboration here, however, it may be necessary to understand that it surely amounts to suicide for any sane Nigerian to think that the duo of Olusegun Obasanjo , the immediate past President of Nigeria and the incumbent President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua are wrong to have insisted that the authorities in Lagos State revert back to the original twenty local government areas as recognized by the constitution. For allowing the created LGA’s to exist without reflecting in the constitution, it amounts to negation of oath of office taken by the President; to defend it [constitution], to the best of his ability. Anarchy could be precipitated in Nigeria if what is not in the constitution is allowed to stay.

Those who thought that the immediate past President was lawless or dictatorial in not releasing the fund meant for Lagos State when the issue first cropped up, arising from Supreme Court foggy ruling on the matter are probably in error. The fact as it were then was that the Apex court ruling was overshadowed by political maneuverings, in the process, making the whole issue look as if Obasanjo was trying to use federal might to intimidate Lagos State, since the apex court ruling was in its favour. Far from that, the ruling did not in any way allow Lagos State the comfort of operating the newly created LGA’s, rather, it asked them to take steps towards completing the process. The analysis of the ruling of Supreme Court on the matter will suffice here. The court clearly agreed that Lagos State has the constitutional right to create local government areas, just as it approved the procedure adopted as been constitutionally correct to the extent they [Lagos State] had gone. The ruling was also clear that the process of local government creation by Lagos State has not been completed constitutionally. In the judgment delivered by Uwais CJN as he then was in the supreme court held that: “Having read all the provisions of the Constitution aforementioned I am satisfied that the House of Assembly of Lagos State has the right to pass the creation of Local Government Areas [Amendment] law 2004”----His Lordship further noted that: “---the laws are valid but inchoate until the necessary steps as provided in Constitution are taken by the National Assembly”.

From the judgment of Mohamed Uwaisi, it is clear that before the legally recognized LGA’s in Lagos State could function, consequential amendments to first schedule of the Constitution must be effected by the National Assembly. This is the only way the created LGA’s can start functioning as constitutionally recognized entities. The point of dispute here is not that Lagos State has no right to create local government areas, but could the LGA’s so created function when the National Assembly has not made consequential amendments to that effect, as required by the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria? The answer is capital NO!

If governor Fashola claims that the Supreme Court had ruled on the constitutionality of Lagos State action, how comes the Apex court alluded to the fact that the Local Government Areas so created, are INCHOATE? Thankfully, the word Inchoate is not written in italic to suggest that it could be of Greek origin and therefore, exclusively be interpreted by lawyers. This shows that it is purely an English word and therefore can be subjected to simple interpretation. What then is INCHOATE as used by Supreme Court? According to Merrian Webster Thesaurus, it means Formless or Incoherent. Further peep into the Dictionary shows that Formless means the followings: Having no definite or recognizable form. The same Thesaurus shows that formless is synonymous with: Chaotic, Order-less, Unordered, Unorganized, Indistinct, Obscure, Unclear, Vague, Indefinite, Indeterminate, Undefined, Crude, Raw, Rough, Rude. For the sake of this piece, it may be proper to also know the various Thesaurus meanings of INCOHERENT. It is synonymous with [1] Loose [2] Lacking cohesion or continuity. It also means the following: Disconnected, Discontinuous, Disjointed, Disordered, Inchoate, In-cohesive, Muddled, Unconnected, Un-continuous, Unorganized, Discordant, Incompatible, Incongruous, Inconsistent, Inconsonant, And Inharmonious.

It is very clear from the above facts about the various meaning of INCHOATE on Supreme Court ruling as quoted on the status of the created local government areas in Lagos State. Agreed, in the word of Fashola, in his letter to Mr. President that the Supreme Court NEVER declared them [the created LGA’s] illegal; what is illegal is the functioning of the LGA’s as though it is recognized by the constitution, when in actual fact it is still INCHOATE. What the Apex court merely told Bola Tinubu, the then governor of Lagos State was that though, Lagos State has the right to create LGA’s, however, in as much as the National Assembly has not made consequential amendments to the first schedule of the current constitution to accommodate Lagos State as regard the LGA’s, the exercise must necessarily remain legal on paper. It must remain FORMLESS, VAGUE, OBSCURE-----, not operational, until National Assembly’s input.

It therefore, follows that the manner the created LGA’s in Lagos State is being run is a clear violation of the provision of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. President Yar’Adua is not only right in ordering Lagos State to revert back to the constitutionally recognized Twenty [20] LGA’s, but correct to allude to the fact that the defiance of Lagos State in this regard[not reverting to the twenty recognized LGA’s] is a clear threat to National Security. The opinion of this writer is that if Lagos State refuses to revert back as Federal Government has directed, government is at liberty to approach the Apex Court in respect of the meaning of INCHOATE as earlier ruled by the Supreme Court on the matter. This writer is convinced that if this path is taken by Federal Government, Governor Fashola and Co. will meet their legal waterloo.