{"id":463614,"date":"2011-07-18T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/07\/18\/my-purported-removal-politically-motivated-%e2%80%94-plateau-lg-boss\/"},"modified":"2011-07-18T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T23:00:00","slug":"my-purported-removal-politically-motivated-plateau-lg-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/18\/my-purported-removal-politically-motivated-plateau-lg-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"My purported removal politically motivated \u2014 Plateau LG boss"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"PDF\"<\/a>\"Print\"<\/a>\"E-mail\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Andrew Agbese<\/span> Tuesday, 19 July 2011 00:00<\/span><\/p>\n

Chairman of Kanam local government of Plateau State, Dr. Saleh Kanam, has had a running battle with Governor Jonah Jang, since his revelation in 2009 that the state government has been fiddling with the resources of local governments in the state. Prior to the April elections he decamped from the PDP to the Labour Party and delivered his local government to the LP in all the elections. But before the elections, the state government suspended him from office and later removed him from office by dissolving all the democratic structures in the LG. Dr. Kanam went to court and got an order to be reinstated. He in this interview explains his travails. Excerpts:<\/p>\n

A federal High Court has ruled that you should be reinstated as chairman of Kanam LG. Can you tell us a bit of what led to your removal and your going to court?<\/p>\n

I was suspended from office on the 25th of March on purported allegations that I was not following due process in awarding contracts; that some political office holders in the local government are collecting double salary and that we are financing some thugs who terrorize and intimidate members of other political parties, particularly PDP.<\/p>\n

On the bases of these allegations, the state government suspended me from office and set up a committee to investigate the allegations. So we went to court to challenge the authority of the state government to suspend\u00a0 me even though\u00a0 I must emphasize that legally there was actually no suspension because up to this moment that I\u2019m speaking to you, there has not been any letter of suspension handed to me by anybody. It was just announced on the state radio.<\/p>\n

We went to court to challenge this attempt at tampering with my tenure in office and the legality of the state to do so. While the state High Court was looking into the matter, we again went to the Federal High Court to enforce our fundamental human right to freedom of fair hearing on the bases that even if the state has the power to suspend me, they ought to have given me a fair hearing, which they did not.<\/p>\n

So, while the courts were looking into the matter, the state hurriedly dissolved the entire council. We went back to the Federal High Court to lodge a complaint that the state government had gone ahead to make nonsense of whatever effort we are making to get back to our job by dissolving the council entirely including myself who is before the court. The Federal High court therefore deemed it necessary to look into this matter with all sense of seriousness and urgency and finally delivered the ruling restoring the council and nullifying the appointment of the sole administrator. This is the summary of what actually happened.<\/p>\n

What was the situation in your local government during your suspension before the state government announced that they had dissolved the council?<\/p>\n

As I said earlier, we went to the State High Court, Pankshin division, to challenge my suspension from office and the state high court opened the application of my lawyer, and the court actually gave an order that the status quo be maintained until the matter is decided. This to us effectively means that since I didn\u2019t receive any letter of suspension, and with the court order we can go to office. Unfortunately, two things happened which effectively kept me off the office. One, on the first day I went to office after I received the court order to resume my normal duty, I was invited at the police headquarters in the state capital here in Jos, where I met the commissioner of police and the director of state security service, both of whom insisted that I should stop going to office because they said they had received security report from the local government indicating that there was going to be serious bloodshed should I insist on entering.<\/p>\n

But I maintained my ground that I have a court order and I have to respect the court order. I told them that I went to court and the court gave me an order; and that I was going to respect the court order and they said \u201cno,\u201d based on the security report, if I insist on going to office, they would arrest me.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the state also wrote a letter to the director of personnel management of my local government and warned him not to have any dealing, particularly financial transaction with me as the chairman of the local government until he received verbal communication from the state. This particularly means that we cannot run the local government because there are no finances. So these two things made it difficult for me to operate and I decided to stay away. But we have made arrangements to be rendering some skeletal services to the people until the state took a decision to dissolve the council.<\/p>\n

What has been the response of the elected councillors that were removed together with you?<\/p>\n

They petitioned the House\u00a0 of\u00a0 Assembly and I think the House has constituted a committee to look into the situation of the council. Other members of the public are also very unhappy about the development. We have to plead with them to be patient and assured them that we are following due process of the law to get justice, and justice will come our way by the grace of God. And last Friday, we saw the result of patience in the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Now that this ruling has been given, what do you envisage is going to happen?<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s our hope and prayer that the state government will respect the decision of the court. The state governor has said it several times that he is somebody who respects the rule of law. Now,\u00a0 the law has spoken. Nobody is fighting the governor; whatever the problem is must have been as a result of misunderstanding of each other\u2019s positions and principles. There\u2019s no disrespect at all for the governor. He remains the governor of the state and everybody within the state is expected to give due respect to him. But as elected officers, we\u2019re all supposed to do things that will change the lives of our people and bring them out of their difficulties. For me, right from the time I became chairman, this is all that I\u2019ve been committed to.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not at all in our own contemplation to be on collision with authorities but to remain committed to the course, aspirations and yearnings of our people. So if there is this understanding, I think the state will not find it difficult to allow the law to take its course and that is what we expect.<\/p>\n

Some say as LG chairman you have been mostly confrontational and have not shown enough loyalty to the governor…<\/p>\n

I think the issue of loyalty has been defined. Loyalty is a matter between a master and his servant; between a husband and his wife; between an employer and an employee. So the loyalty of a political office holder, particularly an elected office holder, is to the people. This has been defined by the Supreme Court of this country in the case of Atiku Abubakar versus Obasanjo. Loyalty is to the people of Nigeria and the constitution. All parties are supposed to understand, appreciate and also work in line with their powers and privileges as derived from the constitution and the extant laws.<\/p>\n

In the case of authority, anybody who is in a higher authority should be accorded respect by those in lower authority. And I think by my training, culturally and religiously, I don\u2019t need to be taught this. But when it comes to the issue that concerns the people, as an elected person, it is either you betray your people or you stand with them. And at all times I told myself that I came into this business in the first place not because of myself but because of my people. So I will rather stand with them than betray them.<\/p>\n

In any case I have not seen anything I have done since my coming into office as having any deliberate intent to collide with the governor.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Originally posted here:
\nMy purported removal politically motivated \u2014 Plateau LG boss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Andrew Agbese Tuesday, 19 July 2011 00:00 Chairman of Kanam local government of Plateau State, Dr. Saleh Kanam, has had a running battle with Governor Jonah Jang, since his revelation in 2009 that the state government has been fiddling with the resources of local governments in the state. Prior to the April elections he decamped from the PDP to the Labour Party and delivered his local government to the LP in all the elections. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-463614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nMy purported removal politically motivated \u2014 Plateau LG boss - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/18\/my-purported-removal-politically-motivated-plateau-lg-boss\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"My purported removal politically motivated \u2014 Plateau LG boss - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Written by Andrew Agbese Tuesday, 19 July 2011 00:00 Chairman of Kanam local government of Plateau State, Dr. Saleh Kanam, has had a running battle with Governor Jonah Jang, since his revelation in 2009 that the state government has been fiddling with the resources of local governments in the state. 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