.….Threatens litigation against Ondo Governor.
AIYEDATIWA’S APPOINTMENT OF ONLY TWO COMMISSIONERS AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS IN OFFICE; A GROSS VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND RED FLAG FOR ABUSE OF OFFICE – FEMI EMMANUEL EMODAMORI ESQ.
Alexander Christopher Sapara Willimas (1855-1915), the first Nigerian Lawyer, once remarked that “A Legal Practitioner lives for the direction of his people and the advancement of the cause of his country.”
As a Legal Practitioner, it is my candid submission that Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has committed a serious breach of Section 192 (2) and (6) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) by appointing just two Commissioners from two out of the eighteen Local Government Areas in the State, after One Hundred days of taking his oath of office. Section 192 (1) of the Constitution provides that “There shall be such offices of Commissioners of the Government of a State as may be established by the Governor of the State”, while Section 192 (2) thereof further provides that “Any appointment to the office of Commissioner of the Government of a State shall…be made by the Governor of that State and in making any such appointment the Governor shall conform with the provision of Section 14(4) of this Constitution.”
Instructively, Section 192 (6) (a) of the Constitution further specifically states that “The nomination of any person to the office of a commissioner for confirmation by the House of Assembly shall be done within sixty days after the date the Governor has taken the oath of office.”
The word “shall” used in Section 192 (2) of the Constitution quoted above denotes a mandatory, imperative and obligatory sense; it simply means. “must”. The judgment of the Supreme Court in ATIKU V. INEC (2023) 19 NWLR (PT. 1917) 761 AT PAGE 964 PARAGRAPH “F” is very apposite in this regard.
The combined provisions of the Constitution cited above, is to the effect that:
- The Governor must nominate his Commissioners for confirmation by
the State House of Assembly within Sixty days after the Governor
takes his oath of office; and - In making any such appointment, the Governor must conform with
Section 14(4) of the Constitution.
In other words, the Governor must comply with Section 14(4) of the
Constitution in nominating or appointing the Commissioners of the
Government of the State. But what exactly does the said Section 14(4) of the Constitution say? It clearly states that:
“The composition of the Government of a State, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognize the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation.”
So, when Section 192(2) of the Constitution stipulates that the Governor must comply with Section 14(4) thereof in appointing Commissioners, it clearly implies that the Governor must spread the appointments to reflect the diversity of the people of the State. Section 192 (6) (a), as earlier stated, further mandates the Governor to nominate the Commissioners within sixty days after taking his oath of office.
The provision of Section 192 (2) of the Constitution considered above is
similar to Section 147 (3) of the Constitution which provides that “Any
appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution: provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.”
Just as Section 2(2) of the Constitution states that “Nigeria shall be Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory”, Section 3(2) of the same Constitution also states that “Each State of Nigeria, named in the first column of Part I of the First Schedule to this Constitution,
shall consist of the area shown opposite thereto in the second column of that Schedule”.
By a simple analogy, just as the President must appoint at least one Minister from each State for the purpose of giving effect to Section 14(3) of the Constitution, the Governor, I submit, must appoint at least one Commissioner from each of the Local Government Areas in the State in order to give effect to Section 14 (4) of the Constitution as stipulated by Section 192 (2) thereof.
His Excellency, Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa took his oath of office on 24th February, 2025. That is over 100 days ago. However, he has appointed only two Commissioners from two out of the eighteen Local Government areas in Ondo State. The two Commissioners are for Finance and Justice. This, I submit, is a very serious breach of Section 192(2) and
(6) (a) of the Constitution. But why?
In my sincere opinion, the Governor has absolutely no justification not to have found competent persons amongst the galaxy of globally acclaimed intellectual assets in each of the Local Governments in Ondo State suitable for nomination as Commissioners.
Is the Governor flouting the law in a sincere attempt to reduce the cost of
governance? I do not think so. With the scandalous amounts being reeled
out daily as the cost of some contracts or projects the State Government claims to be executing under Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, I believe the least important thing in the mind of His Excellency is efficiency and transparency in governance.
Just a few days ago, we were told that the State Government awarded the
contract to build just thirty-two units of three-bedroom flats for a humongous sum of N8.2Billion, translating to about N281 million per unit. Perhaps the houses are to be built with gold! At another time, we were told that Governor Aiyedatiwa approved about N775 million just to upgrade Government House perimeter fence, at a time when citizens of the State were/are increasingly feeling defenseless.
The same Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has refused to obey the provision of Section 121(3) of the Constitution which gives financial autonomy to the State Judiciary and the State House of Assembly. The Section stipulates that any amount standing to the credit of the House of
Assembly and the Judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund shall be
paid directly to the two arms of Government and even further provides
when and how such monies shall be released to them. Governor Lucky
Aiyedaiwa and the only two Commissioners he appointed refused to obey.
I instituted two separate court cases (AK/18M/2024 and AK/19M/2024) against them at the Ondo State High Court for violating the constitutional provisions guaranteeing financial autonomy for the State House of Assembly and the State Judiciary. The Court granted my prayers and ordered them to comply. It would shock Nigerians to know that Aiyedatiwa’s Attorney-General, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, rushed to the Court of Appeal over the two judgments.
They said they do not want to obey Section 121(3) of the Constitution that says the Governor must give whatever belongs to the Judiciary to the Judiciary and whatever belongs to the House of Assembly to the House, for them to execute their respective projects.
What did they do after that? They announced to the whole world that they are spending a whooping sum of N31.1 Billion to build a complex for the
High Court, rather than allowing the Judiciary to handle its own projects
according to the law, while the chairs, roofs and other facilities in the existing courts are in a very sorry state and lawyers sometime have to sit on the arms of some broken chairs in many of the Courts during
proceedings.
The Ondo State Judiciary Staff Union (JUSUN) has just given a 7-day strike notice to the Governor over his failure to implement the financial autonomy of the State Judiciary. I have never heard an Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice anywhere in the world antagonizing the constitutional provisions guaranteeing financial autonomy for the judiciary.
What about the other Commissioner appointed for Finance? For the first
time in the history of Nigeria, I believe, Governor Aiyedatiwa approved and
budgeted a strange and unprecedented N11 Billion security vote for her, as if she is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is there in the Ondo State 2025 Budget which is accessible online. N11Billion security vote for a Commissioner! And we all see the result: an equally unprecedented spree of kidnapping and senseless murders in the State.
So, I believe that the failure of Governor Aiyedatiwa to appoint commissioners in compliance with Section 192(2) and (6) (a) of the Constitution is to enable him run the government like a Sole Administrator, and this, to me, portends a red flag for corruption and abuse of office. It must be stopped.
I will certainly drag the Governor to court if this aberration continues much longer. As the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi would say, a legal practitioner must be prepared to stand by the truth, stand for the truth, and stand with the truth, even if he has to stand alone.
E-signed
Femi Emmanuel Emodamori
(Legal Practitioner, Akure) 7th June, 2025.
