A political group, Progressive Group for Democracy, on Tuesday, urged President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to bar Lagos Local Government chairmen who have spent two terms in office from seeking re-election in line with the constitution.
They also called on the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission to disqualify any candidate seeking an unconstitutional tenure elongation, which they said evoked the memory of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s failed third-term bid.
The demand was made at a press conference held in Abuja.
PUNCH Online reported two days ago that the Lagos chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress cleared 418 local government aspirants to contest the July 12 council polls.
Our correspondent, however, gathered that Abdulganiyu Obasa, the son of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa, was absent at the screening held between Tuesday and Thursday.
A reliable insider disclosed that Abdulganiyu was asked to step down by some of the APC leaders.
Reacting on Tuesday, the Leader of the protesting stakeholders and National Coordinator of the group, Aladesanmi Salawu, raised the alarm that some anti-democratic forces re-emerging in Lagos are desperately seeking a third-term agenda for some of the LG chairmen.
Salawu, however, warned that the Fourth Alteration Bill No. 16 signed by former President Buhari in 2018 was clear and leaves no room for ambiguity.
He said, “Once you’ve taken an oath of office after succeeding a deceased officeholder, then contest and win another term, you can not seek a third term.
“Some individuals who assumed office following the death of elected chairpersons are now attempting to perpetuate themselves in power beyond the constitutional limit. This is a third-term agenda disguised as a legal technicality. We are not making a request – we are stating what the Constitution already mandates.
“President Tinubu must publicly reject this third-term agenda in Lagos local councils, and the Attorney General of the Federation must issue an immediate advisory on term limits for local government administrations.”
Continuing, the stakeholders stressed that the Nigerian Constitution is supreme over all other laws, including the Lagos State Local Government Administration Law.
The group also warned that if Tinubu, Fagbemi and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu fail to reject the move, they will be forced to seek every legal means available to challenge the ‘dangerous precedent.’
