Ebonyi Assembly Dissolves 13 LGA Caretaker Committee Chairmen, Others

Gov. Elechi Martin

by AIT

Barely a month and some weeks to the general election, Ebonyi state House of Assembly Tuesday dissolved the newly appointed 13 local government Caretaker Committee Chairmen and the 28 Development Centre Coordinators appointed by Governor Martin Elechi.

The House of Assembly also during its plenary attended by 18 out of the 24 members of the House also dissolved the Chairmen of boards and parastatal appointed by the State Governor and directed Governor Elechi to submit to the House the total allocation and the internally generated revenue received by the State Government between January 2014 till date.

Moving a motion for the dissolution of the Caretaker Committee Chairmen, the Coordinators and the Board Chairmen, the member representing Onicha East constituency Hon Odefa Obasi Odefa argued that the State Governor did not consult the House before the appointment of the Chairmen adding that the action of the Governor amounts to breach of the constitution.

The affected Commissions include: the Local Government Service Commision (LGSC), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Secondary Education Board (SEB), and the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB).

The House directed the dismissed officers to hand over all government property under their possession to their Head of Personnel Management and Accounting officers.

They also ordered the Ebonyi State Police and the anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC), and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Commission (ICPC), to investigate the financial transactions of the affected political office holders since they were sworn in.

However, Governor Elechi, through his Chief Press Secretary, Dr Onyekachi Eni, urged caretaker chairmen and co-ordinators to go about their businesses, as the assembly’s resolution was merely advisory.

Elechi also said all the issues the assembly passed resolution upon were subjects of litigation and called on the citizens of the state to remain calm, as the state government would take necessary action to address them.

“First is to say that we have enormous respect for members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, being an important arm of government.”

“We are, however, surprised by the action they have taken by way of a resolution seeking to dissolve the local government caretaker committee chairmen, boards, etc.”

“The first is that resolutions are not laws; a resolution is a persuasive communication which emanates from the House of Assembly to the executive, seeking that certain things be done.”

“And being persuasive, resolutions are advisory in nature and as we all know, advice can be taken or rejected … so in this case their advice to the governor or to the executive arm is noted,” he said.

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