Against the backdrop of recent Supreme Court judgment granting local government autonomy, Governor Nasiru Idris of Kebbi State has sent packing the sole administrators of the 21 local government areas in the state.
The dissolution was contained in a letter signed by the acting Permanent Secretary in the State’s Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Aliyu Hassan Kalgo.
According to Kalgo, who signed the letter on behalf of the Commissioner, the dissolution is with immediate effect.
The letter conveyed the Governor’s directives that all sole administrators should hand over the affairs, documents and properties of their respective local governments to the directors of administration.
Governor Idris had appointed the sacked Sole Administrators in February 2023 following the expiration of the tenure of the elected Council chairmen and counselors.
Forefront News reliably gathered that the decision has received applauses from the opposition parties in the State which had demanded that the Sole Administrators be relieved of their appointments ahead of the August 31, 2024 local government elections in the State.
The opposition had argued that such a move would provide a level playing field for all parties to participate in the polls without the ruling party in the State necessarily having too much controlling influence through the sacked Sole Administrators.
Meanwhile, with the recent ruling by the nation’s apex court granting financial autonomy to local government councils in the country, political activities are now picking up at the grassroot levels with most state governors re-strategizing on how best to keep their strangleholds on that tier of government.
According to political commentators, the development is making some governors desperate and they are currently working round the clock to conduct local government polls in their respective states.
