News
Oyo: Court grants injunction to uphold tenure of LG Chairmen
Oyo State High Court has granted an injunction by the chairmen in the 33 local government areas in the state to uphold their tenure of three years in office as stipulated by the country’s constitution.
Also joined in the suit were the chairmen of the 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state, who prayed the court to grant injunction to uphold their tenure in office.
In a ruling delivered on Monday by Justice Aderonke Aderemi, she argued that the tenure of the claimants who are the council chairmen was statutory set at three years with effect from the date of their elections, adding that dissolving the constitutionally elected council chairmen was in conflict with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999.
In the suit NO: 1/347/19 filed at the state High court sitting in Ibadan, Justice Aderemi maintained that seeking the dissolution of the elected council chairmen by the Governor, Attorney- General of the state, the Commissioner for Local Government, Accountant- General of the state, Speaker of the State House of Assembly and the State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) breached the constitutional provision of Section 7 (1) of the constitution of the country, thereby making the application of the defendants for the dissolution null and void.
While stating that sections 7(a) and 96 of the Local Government Law of the state, Cap 78 Laws of Oyo State 2000, which empowers the governor to dissolve local government areas, violates section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), Justice Aderemi, however, insisted that the violation of the section of the law made it unconstitutional for the council chairmen to be dissolved before the expiration of their three-year tenure.
She ruled that any law, order or directive empowering the governor of the state or any person whatsoever to dissolve the local government councils and local council development areas in the state or remove from office any person democratically elected into a local government council and local council development areas in the state whose tenure is yet to expire was in conflict with Section 7 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and thus unconstitutional.
“A declaration that by virtue of the combined effect of Section 7 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended) and the provisions of Section 16 of the Local Government Law of Oyo State, Cap 78 Laws of Oyo State, 2000, the 1st defendant have no power to dissolve the democratically elected councils of the 33 Local Government Councils Development Areas in Oyo State and/or suspend remove or replace the claimants with appointed caretaker committees before the end of their tenure in breach of the aforesaid constitutional and statutory provisions.”
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st defendant, his servants, agents, privies or any person whosoever from dissolving the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas in Oyo State or removing, suspending, termination and or doing anything whatever to truncate the tenure of the claimants except in accordance with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended).”
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents, privies or any person whosoever from freezing the accounts of the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas in Oyo State or doing anything to truncate the effective administration of the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas of Oyo State.”
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents, privies or any person whosoever from withholding or diverting the allocations, funds and resources of the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas in Oyo State and/or doing anything to truncate the effective administration of the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas in Oyo State”.
“An order or perpetual injunction restraining the 6th defendant, it’s servants, agents, privies or any person whatsoever from conducting election into the office of Chairmen or Councillors of all the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Development Areas in Oyo State before the expiration of the 3 years term of the claimants due to lapse in May, 2022”, Justice Aderemi further ruled.
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that 95 million Nigerians need to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN) to meet its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025.
Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, emphasised the importance of this enrollment during an interview on X over the weekend.
He stated, “For NIMC to meet the 200 million target by 2025, 95 million Nigerians need to register for the NIN.”
Adegoke revealed that over 105 million NINs have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents so far.
He assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment, saying, “We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
“The NIN serves as a unique identifier for each citizen and has become increasingly important for various government initiatives aimed at improving security, governance, and service delivery.”
Adegoke highlighted the efforts to streamline the modification and enrollment processes under the leadership of Abisoye Coker, the director-general of NIMC. He announced the development of a self-service platform, allowing Nigerians to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from anywhere, using different devices.
Emphasising the convenience of the self-service modification portal, Adegoke encouraged Nigerians to utilize this innovative solution.
He noted the evolution of the process, citing the past requirement for applicants to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
Engr Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has disclosed that the nation’s oil and gas reserves have risen to 37.50 billion barrels as of January 1, 2024.
This marks an increase from the 37.046 billion barrels recorded in May 2022.
Komolafe emphasised the implementation of robust policies aimed at enhancing and optimising oil and gas operations across the country.
Notably, gas reserves stand at 102.59 trillion cubic feet (TCF), with non-associated gas reserves reaching 106.67 TCF, culminating in a total of 209.26 TCF of gas reserves.
Addressing concerns during a press conference held in Abuja on Monday regarding crude supply regulation and enforcement, Komolafe underscored the importance of prioritising feedstock supply to local refineries while addressing grievances from oil producers and the Dangote Refinery within specified timelines.
This announcement follows recent reports of a decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production during February and March 2024.
According to data from the April 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s crude oil production (excluding condensates) experienced its second consecutive monthly decrease, dropping to 1.231 million barrels per day in March from 1.322 million barrels per day in February.
OPEC attributed this decline, amounting to a reduction of 91,000 barrels per day, to factors communicated directly from Nigeria.
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