Facts behind suspension of Alimosho Local Government Chairman
The suspension of the Chairman of Alimosho Local Government, Jelili Sulaimon, by the Lagos State House of Assembly may not be unconnected with the disciplinary action he took against a Supervisory Councillor some months ago and his failure to reinstate the Revenue Consultant of the Iyana-Ipaja Market, WESTERN POST can reveal.
The suspension, it was learnt, is the last move by the leadership of the assembly to get the embattled chairman out of the way.
WESTERN POST gathered that the embattled Chairman had been having a running battle with the House for almost 10 months over his suspension of a Supervisory Council who is believed to be loyal to the leadership of the Assembly instead of the Council.
There is also the matter of the replacement of the Iyana Ipaja Market Revenue Collection Consultant whose position had become contentious.
It was gathered that the suspension of the Supervisory Council by the Chairman did not go down well with the House following which it directed the Sulaimon to reinstate the supervisor.
The chairman did not heed the directive. The last straw, however, is the failure of the Chairman to reinstate the market revenue collection consultant.
A WESTERN POST source said the leadership of the House saw this as an affront and decided to move against him.
Another source, who is a staff of the local government but who pleaded that his name should not mentioned, explained to WESTERN POST that the Chairman could not reinstate the revenue consultant because the stakeholders in Alimosho Community had emphatically rejected his reinstatement, warning the Chairman not to re-appoint him.
The House, particularly Speaker Mudasiru Obasa, would not have any of that. He eventually led the House to suspend Sulaimon for alleged insubordination.
Meanwhile, the suspension of the chairman has attracted the attention of the leadership and elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
A series of meetings are being held to see how to resolve the matter.
The elders want the issues resolved amicably without degenerating into deep conflict.
The suspended Chairman has, however, approached a Federal High Court, Abuja, to reverse the lawmakers’ order on him.
He urged the court to hold that the assembly cannot act as oversight over a democratically-elected executive of a local government that has its own democratically-elected legislative council.
In the suit filed by his lawyer, Dr Abdul Mahmud, the suspended chairman said the essential kernel of the case was to assert the autonomy and independence of local governments, pursuant to the recent decision of the Supreme Court.