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The Action Congress (AC) has said the Acting Governor of Kogi state, Clarence Olafemi, will be carrying out an illegal act if he keeps his pledge to retain all the appointees of Ibrahim Idris, after his (Idris) removal from office following the ruling of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
The Action Congress (AC) has said the Acting Governor of Kogi state, Clarence Olafemi, will be carrying out an illegal act if he keeps his pledge to retain all the appointees of Ibrahim Idris, after his (Idris) removal from office following the ruling of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
In a statement issued in Abuja Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said since Idris was never elected as governor at the 2007 polls in the eyes of the law, any action he took while in office is illegal, null and void.
``Therefore, for Olafemi to keep the appointees of Idris, for whatever reason, will be piling illegality upon illegality, not minding that the decision (to keep the appointees) itself is an overly exuberant reaction by a man dwarfed by the status of his new office.
``Olafemi should save the state from any further mess by immediately sacking all Idris' appointees, whether they are Commissioners, Special Advisers, Heads of Parastatals, Head of Service or whatever.
``Their appointments became illegal the moment the Court of Appeal ruled that the usurper Governor was never elected in the first instance, and all their actions while in office are also illegal, null and void,'' AC said.
It also said even the Acting Governor cannot make his own appointments during his tenure, since no provision was made in the country's Constitution for an Acting Governor to send a list of appointees to the State House of Assembly for ratification.
The party said the mess in Kogi should be blamed on the INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu, who has earned himself a terrible place in the history of Nigeria by ruining a historic election through gross incompetence, unbridled partisanship and lack of a strong moral fibre.
``Needless to say that the mess in Kogi would not have arisen if a man saddled with organising the 2007 general elections has done the right thing. That is why we will not relent in calling for Iwu's immediate removal to pave way for a capable fresh hand to
organise the fresh polls being ordered in droves by the various election tribunals,'' AC added.