Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, weekend, said the setting up of Local Government Transition Committee, LGTC, was unconstitutional and unknown to law.
Okowa spoke after the National Industrial Court, NIC, sitting in Awka, declared LGTC as unlawful.
Members of the last LGTC had dragged the state government to court over the refusal of the government to pay them severance allowance.
The state counsel, Mr Thomas Anigara, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the state government, told the court that the local government transition committee was not known to law and therefore could not be agitating for severance allowance.
Dismissing the suit, the Presiding Judge, Justice Waziri Abali, said the appointment of the transition committee was illegal.
The governor, who spoke while receiving the report of the 2014 local government council election in the state from the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission, DSIEC, said: “The transition committee is not constitutional, so, if it is not set up at the state and federal levels, why should local government suffer such faith? It is undemocratic, an aberration and should not be condoned especially, in Delta State. I believe that law specifically states in the constitution that democratically elected local government councils are guaranteed and to that extent, I believe it is an aberration at any time to have transition committees. This is my belief and as such, we must plan early enough for elections because this is what the constitution states.”
