October 08, (THEWILL) – Ahead of Saturday’s local government elections in Plateau State , tension is brewing in Langtang North LGA over the effort by the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, PLASIEC, to conduct election in the council one year to the expiration of the tenure of the current chairman, Hon. Ubandoma Joshua Laven.
A former National Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Barr. Danjuma Rindam has all expressed disgust and disappointment over the attempt by the Plateau State Government to remove a democratically elected chairman from office before his legal tenure of three years expires.
Governor Simon Lalong had on October 9, 2019 sworn in Hon. Joshua Ubandoma Laven as the elected chairman of Langtang LGC following the ruling on the local government election appeal tribunal which declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate winner of the October 10 2018 council election in the area.
According to Rindam, “that is injustice and we are not going to encourage this type of thing. What I am saying is that no matter the situation we find ourselves in, let the rule of law prevail in our polity and that is the only way forward if we are to make any meaningful progress and development.”
He argued that Governor Lalong is a trained lawyer before becoming a politician, noting that at the end of his political journey he will still return to his constituency – the legal profession.
Rindam also stressed that he expects the governor to lead the way as they all know that a tenure begins when the successful candidate is sworn in, and repeatedly the court has ruled that tenure begins the day one was sworn in as the duly elected chairman or otherwise.
The former NBA chairman further said that the tenure of local government chairmen by law is three years. Accordingly, he said, the chairman of Langtang North LGC, lHon. Ubandoma Joshua Laven, who was only sworn in two years ago, still has one more year for his tenure to expire legally.
According to him, in politics the law will always have the last say, so wise politicians will always start with the law and not end with the law because it is more expensive if you did not start with the law and think you want to end with it.
He said “I expect that this is a democracy, and we should learn to give and take. You can not always have it in your own way all the time. My comment has nothing to do with partisan politics. I am not interested in either PDP or APC in Plateau State. I am interested in individuals and of course from the little introduction of myself, I am interested in the rule of law at any time.”
Rindam further argued, “We all know governor Lalong as a lawyer. So I expect him to tell his people that, look, Iam not only a politician, Iam also a trained lawyer. When we are in leadership positions, we should not toy with our duties and responsibilities. Let’s believe that it was a mistake for this matter to go to court, so we will abide by the decision of the court. All I know is that when you refuse to do the right thing, the court will always have a way of compelling you to do what is right.”
According to him, all the way from the Magistrate to the Supreme Court the attitude is the same. If you show yourself as a difficult or recalcitrant litigant, the first duty is to compel you to do the needful. I’m hoping that common sense will prevail here so that this unfortunate striving will not work further.
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