Imo Coalition for Change Initiative on Thursday charged the
state governor, Rochas Okorocha, to immediately comply with the July 5 Court of
Appeal judgment which reversed his dissolution of the state’s 27 local
government councils.
Director-General of the group,
Fabian Ihekweme, said that in the judgment, Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji,
leading two other justices, had ruled that Okorocha was not competent and
lacked powers to sack the councils, either by himself or by proxy.
He stated that pursuant to ‘’Section
7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 23(1) of the Local
Government Administration Law No. 15 2000 (as amended), the second respondent,
(Gov Okorocha) had no competence or power either by himself or through any
person acting on his behalf, to dissolve democratically elected local
government councils in Imo State in which the claimants are chairmen’’.
The councils were dissolved by
Okoroccha through his maiden broadcast to Imo people on June 6, 2011’’
Other members of the panel are
Justice Mojeed A. Owoade and Justice Haruna Tsammani.
The judgment with
consequential orders, ordered Imo State government to reinstate the sacked
local government chairmen.
Addressing a press conference at the
Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Ihekweme said the group has
watched with keen interest, the retrogression of Imo State into lawlessness and
executive recklessness.
‘’The deliberate refusal of Okorocha
to obey the Court of Appeal’s ruling is only a tip of the iceberg in the rule
of executive recklessness which the administration of Okorocha has
imposed on Imo State.