The Attorney-General of Sokoto State, Nasiru Mohammed Binji, has said that the position of the state government on local government autonomy has been vindicated by the Supreme Court judgment on the issue.
He also stated that the amendment made to the 2009 Local Government Law by the Sokoto State House of Assembly bore no element of mischief as it was intended to guide the development of the administration of council areas in the state.
The Commissioner stated this in an interview in Sokoto recently
“Absolutely no mischief was intended. Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, may Allah bless him, he is a good man, and as his Attorney General, I can tell whoever cares to listen that his actions are always determined by public good.
“He is the last person whose official conduct would be informed by mischief,for the record there was no mischief intended,and the amendment was done 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 office of elected chairmen and councillors.
“You may wish to recall that the governor ran the 2023 elections on Local Government Autonomy. As someone with experience 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 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 near what is obtaining in the FCT where they have a tenure of four years. It would interest you to know that before now, the tenure was three years before it was changed to two years in 2016 by the Aminu Tambuwal 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 year tenure, so why subject the councils to a two years tenure? So he thought the best thing to do was to revert back to the accepted three years.”
He said some well meaning people had called the governor to find out the true position of things and the governor had assured them that there was no hidden agenda in relation to the amendment of the local government law.
According to him, there was no intention whatsoever on the part of the government to ridicule the Sultanate Council.
“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 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.
“The governor has very high regards for the Sultan,and this was conveyed in clear terms to the people of Sokoto State, but the opposition tried to hijack it.
” During the public hearing organised by the Sokoto State House of Assembly, part of my submission was the need for the law to be consolidated because it had experienced more than four amendments.”
He said for chairmen and councilors,the amendment was in respect of section 13, while other amendment on Section 14 was in respect of the amount of money for a purchase of nomination form for the Chairmanship position, and councilors.
According to him, before the amendment, the nomination form for the chairman was N50,000 and N25,000 for councillors, which was definitely outdated.
“That provision was made in 2002. So, the governor thought this amount was not realistic considering the cost of running 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 the future, having to push for the amendment of this particular section. “
He said the state government had given the Commission the latitude to operate to determine the amount, adding that the amendment was in respect of Section 14.
He also said the issue of sole administrators, which was an issue over the years, had been addressed.
“You definitely have heard about absolute powers corrupt absolutely. So, the governor was motivated by the purest of intentions to right wrongs, which were affecting the smooth operation of government.
“So essentially, it was to subject them to supervision of ministries or the departments of government.
“That is what informed the decision of the government to forward this amendment to the House of Assembly.
“That was the first amendment to change the tenure of the Chairmen and Councillors from two to three years.
