A senator and a House of Representatives member from Osun have engaged in war of words over the parliamentary system that Osun State introduced into the adminstration of local governments.
The Reps member, Hon. Oluwole Oke, described the system as unconstitutional, calling for its reversal.
Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the parliamentary system in Osun LGs was an abnormality, which should be reversed without further delay.
The lawmaker enjoined the Osun State House of Assembly, in conjunction with the state executive, “to ensure a quick reversal of the nasty system in order not to bungle the spread of dividends of democracy in the state.”
However, the Senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District, Dr. Ajibola Basiru, in a statement he issued on Monday, described Oke’s statement as one informed by ignorance.
Basiru said, “Ordinarily, we would have ignored the news item as the rantings of another uninformed mind seeking attention but on a second thought, we deemed it necessary to pen this reply because the maker of the statement is a ranking member of the House of Representatives.”
He said he decided to respond to Oke’s claims, because “it has the capacity to mislead the general public and portray the Government of the State of Osun in a very bad light.
“Also, the motive of the lawmaker in raising this issue now is suspect, because the local government law has been operational more than two years ago. One wonders how he suddenly woke up to dream of unconscionably.
“While the Hon. Lawmaker may be excused for his crass ignorance of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, we however, owe the people of his constituency and the institution he represents this explanation.
“Every judicious mind that read his unguided condemnation about the parliamentary system of government in the State of Osun would also have noticed that the Hon. Lawmaker did not refer to the Law that establish the parliamentary system in the State of Osun to back his envy prompt treatise about the system.
“The question that readily comes to mind is was the omission deliberate and a calculated mischief or is Hon. Wole Oke just blatantly ignorant?
“We are of the view that the basis of Hon. Oke’s statement is traceable to his poor understanding of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the operations of local government administration.
“His farcical claim that the Law, being inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution is at best ludicrous.
“While the supremacy of the Constitution as demonstrated in Section 1(3) is not in contention, it has to be demonstrated that the law that established the parliamentary system of governance in the local councils of the State of Osun is consistent with any provision of the constitution.”
