From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, said it would take a legal action against Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for setting up liaison officers in the 18 local government areas.
The party Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae, told newsmen in Benin, that the position of liaison officers is alien to the Nigeria constitution but has been imported to the state by Governor Obaseki.
Uwadiae said the governor was democratically elected and should replicate same in the local governments by conducting local government elections.
“Going through the 1999 Constitution from the first word to the last word, there is nowhere it is so captured that a local government should be manned by a liaison officers.
“And what we have discovered, is that, those appointed have taken over the various local governments as if they are the chairmen duly elected.
“It is a legal aberration, it is an affront on democratic practice in Nigeria and Edo State people are worried that the present government is leading us into a state of political dictatorship.
“If the constitution of Nigeria did not make provision for a liaison officer, where is the governor drawing his power and authority to appoint liaison officers when we are under a democratic practice?
“This governor was elected into office through a democratic process and he sworn to uphold the constitution of Nigeria but today, what we see him do in the state is to tell the Edo people that it was a mistake to have voted him in as the governor.
“We are saying as a party that we detest, it is not only illegal, we ask that the governor, forthwith, reverse that appointment and conduct local government elections in the 18 local government area so that the integrity of democratic practices will be restored in Edo State otherwise, we will not fail, as a party, to approach the court to give legal interpretation to what has happened in Edo State.
“I am putting my legal team together and in no distance time, if the governor fails to reverse this ugly trend that he has foisted on Edo people, we will approach the court for a legal interpretation,” he said.
The APC publicity secretary appealed to Edo people to be calm because APC was looking at all the legal apparatus to be explored so that they can be taken away from this shackle of dictatorship being foisted on them by the governor.