Lagos Orders 57 Council Chairmen To Vacate Office

The Government of Lagos state on Tuesday ordered all the chairmen and other political appointees in the 20 local government areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to quit office with immediate effect.

The order was made in a statement issued by the state commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba,  stating that the three-year statutory tenure of all council chairmen and councillors in the state “expires on October 28,” which it said, made it mandatory for them to vacate their offices in line with the directive.

“Chairmen are hereby directed to co-ordinate the exercise and hand over to the Council Managers in their respective local governments who will take charge of the administration until further notice.”

According to the statement, new political officers “will resume office after the next local government elections to be scheduled and conducted by the state Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) upon completion of the continuous voters’ registration, ward re-delineation and polling booth re-distribution exercise embarked upon by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

However, investigations carried out by THISDAY  revealed that the state government had concluded plan to constitute a five-man committee to take over the administration of councils  in the state from the council managers next month.

A top state official said the five-man committee would comprise Executive Secretary, one Deputy Executive Secretary and three members, who he said, would run the affairs of the local council until elections “are conducted.”

He explained that of the 57 council chairmen that vacated office yesterday, only 19 of them would come back as the executive secretaries of their local governments, though subject to the ratification of the party leaders.

He added that the 19 council chairmen “will only return as executive secretaries because they just concluded their first term. On this note, they will be given concession to serve in the capacity of council executive secretaries. But their appointment would be contingent on their performance in office.

“The party leaders in the 19 local governments will vote whether the affected council chairman should be appointed. The criterion for their appointment is a function of their performance in office,” the source explained.