Following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that granted local government autonomy, the 401 chairpersons and members of the caretaker committees overseeing the 62 local governments and council development areas in Osun State submitted their resignations on Wednesday.
Adewale Adeyinka, the Caretaker Chairman of Odo-Otin Local Government Area in Okuku, stated he resigned out of “respect for our democratic principles.” His resignation letter, dated July 17, 2024, was addressed to Governor Ademola Adeleke.
In his letter, Adeyinka wrote, “It is with a sense of duty and respect for our democratic principles that I write to tender my resignation from my position as Chairman of the Caretaker Committee for Odo-Otin Local Government, effective immediately. As I move on to pursue further opportunities to serve my people, I want to assure you that the good work we have started will not end. I remain committed to supporting the growth and development of Odo-Otin Local Government in any capacity I can.”
The Supreme Court’s judgment barred governors from appointing caretaker committees to run local governments, stating that only duly elected officials could manage LGs. The court also ruled that any local government run by caretakers should have its allocation from the Federation Account withheld.
In a conversation with The PUNCH on Wednesday, Sarafadeen Awotunde, the immediate past Chairman of the Osun State chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, confirmed that all 69 caretaker chairmen and 332 members in Osun State had resigned. When asked to verify the resignations, Awotunde said, “Since we already called them caretakers, I don’t think there is any appropriate word to use than that they resigned. Nobody sacked them. Caretakers have a temporary time to serve. It means their time is over. The Supreme Court has given a verdict, so whatever is called caretaker now is illegal. There is nothing like a caretaker in Nigeria again.”
Osun State consists of 30 Local Government Areas, 32 Local Council Development Authorities, six Area Councils, and one Administrative Office. The last set of caretaker committee chairpersons and members were appointed by Governor Adeleke in August 2023, and their tenure was extended by six months in February 2024. Although their tenure was supposed to end in August, they tendered their resignations prematurely.
Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, confirmed the resignations of the LG caretakers. He explained, “We have been receiving resignation letters. Those who resigned did so to be eligible for the party primary, preparatory for the local government elections coming up next year. The Electoral Act has made it mandatory for whoever will participate in the party’s primary to resign from political office first.”
Punch