What to Expect As Kogi Gov, Yahaya Bello Dissolves LG Administrators After 4years
As Kogi Governor Alhaji YahayA Bello finally dissolved the 21 local government Administrators in Kogi State after four years of acting as caretaker chairmen without elected local government chairmen, these are what should expect in Kogi State.
There is every possibility that the 21 local government Administrators who had acted as caretaker chairmen in their respective local government in the last four years will return as elected chairman when the election is conducted in April.
This proposition is far from a mere a speculation or hear-say due to the activities that first greeted the move to dissolve the
Administrators immediately after Yahaya Bello was sworn in for the second term.
The Administrators through their umbrella, Logo State Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), had made a move to the governor that they should all be returned as elected chairmen in their respective local government, an appeal that many considered as a sign of ungratefulness on the side of the local government Administrators who were handpicked by the governor in 2016.
The Administrator of Okene local government, Abdulrazaq Muhammad, his Okehi counterpart Abdulrahim Ohiare, the Administrator Ijumu local government Taofik Isa as well as the remaining others had already declared their intention to contest for the chairman of their respective local government to be fully elected and rule for another four years before they were dissolved on Tuesday by governor Yahaya Bello.
The Controversy of Zoning
Kogi is a sensitive state when it comes to zoning arrangement because of clan and ethnic interest which decides who gets political positions.
There were already growing tensions in the communities and clans of the twenty one local government of the state when the dissolved administrators declared their intentions to contest for chairmanship positions.
As the Administrators are dissolved and would now go on full fledge campaign to actualize their dreams, expect more of this tension and hopefully it doesn't lead to community crisis as the local government campaigns starts in earnest.
Several communities and clans in the local government had kicked against the idea of the Administrators contesting for chairmanship position to spend another four years on the ground that it will distort the zoning arrangement on ground.
The aggrieved communities and clans had argued that each community and clan that make up their local government is to produce local government chairman for a single term of four year and the fact that the Administrators had spent four years means that they cannot contest again as the same community or clan where they hail from will produce the local government chairman twice, the Administrators had however, argued that the zoning arrangement was agreed on elected chairmen and not local government Administrators.
Governors Yahaya Bello's Stand on the Growing Tension
Until they were dissolved on Tuesday, governor Yahaya Bello has not made his stand known publicly but it's however going to be a daunting task for Yahaya Bello to fulfill the interest of the aggrieved communities and clans who felt it's their turn to produce the local government chairman in their respective local government and the fact of accepting to work with new people who might not fulfill his requirements and may even come from opposition party.
Unless governor Yahaya Bello is smart and ready to take a decisive decision to stem the tide, the growing tensions in the aggrieved communities and clans might be difficult to manage as the Administrators join the full campaign to be fully elected.
Isah Bala
Yahaya Bello
There is every possibility that the 21 local government Administrators who had acted as caretaker chairmen in their respective local government in the last four years will return as elected chairman when the election is conducted in April.
This proposition is far from a mere a speculation or hear-say due to the activities that first greeted the move to dissolve the
Administrators immediately after Yahaya Bello was sworn in for the second term.
The Administrators through their umbrella, Logo State Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), had made a move to the governor that they should all be returned as elected chairmen in their respective local government, an appeal that many considered as a sign of ungratefulness on the side of the local government Administrators who were handpicked by the governor in 2016.
The Administrator of Okene local government, Abdulrazaq Muhammad, his Okehi counterpart Abdulrahim Ohiare, the Administrator Ijumu local government Taofik Isa as well as the remaining others had already declared their intention to contest for the chairman of their respective local government to be fully elected and rule for another four years before they were dissolved on Tuesday by governor Yahaya Bello.
The Controversy of Zoning
Kogi is a sensitive state when it comes to zoning arrangement because of clan and ethnic interest which decides who gets political positions.
There were already growing tensions in the communities and clans of the twenty one local government of the state when the dissolved administrators declared their intentions to contest for chairmanship positions.
As the Administrators are dissolved and would now go on full fledge campaign to actualize their dreams, expect more of this tension and hopefully it doesn't lead to community crisis as the local government campaigns starts in earnest.
Several communities and clans in the local government had kicked against the idea of the Administrators contesting for chairmanship position to spend another four years on the ground that it will distort the zoning arrangement on ground.
The aggrieved communities and clans had argued that each community and clan that make up their local government is to produce local government chairman for a single term of four year and the fact that the Administrators had spent four years means that they cannot contest again as the same community or clan where they hail from will produce the local government chairman twice, the Administrators had however, argued that the zoning arrangement was agreed on elected chairmen and not local government Administrators.
Governors Yahaya Bello's Stand on the Growing Tension
Until they were dissolved on Tuesday, governor Yahaya Bello has not made his stand known publicly but it's however going to be a daunting task for Yahaya Bello to fulfill the interest of the aggrieved communities and clans who felt it's their turn to produce the local government chairman in their respective local government and the fact of accepting to work with new people who might not fulfill his requirements and may even come from opposition party.
Unless governor Yahaya Bello is smart and ready to take a decisive decision to stem the tide, the growing tensions in the aggrieved communities and clans might be difficult to manage as the Administrators join the full campaign to be fully elected.
Isah Bala
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