SUPREME COURT SACKS OSUN COUNCIL CHAIRMEN

The Osun State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday scored another legal victory as the Supreme Court ordered the immediate dissolution of the 30 local councils in the state for failing to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2006.
Some days ago, the council chairmen, ostensibly worried by the likely outcome of the then pending case, had held a meeting with Governor Rauf Aregbesola who assured them that his administration would not do anything contrary to the 1999 Constitution.
The apex court, in a lead judgment delivered by Mr. Justice Mukthar Coomasie, upheld the verdict of the Court of Appeal, which declared the election conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) illegal, null and void and of no effect.
Justice Coomasie also threw away the appeal filed by OSSIEC and the 30 local council chairmen who sought to be joined in the suit when the matter reached the Supreme Court.
The Court held that the 30 local council chairmen were aware of the existence of the case filed by the then Action Congress (AC) at the Osogbo High Court heard on December 14, 2007.
According to the ruling, the chairmen failed to be joined at the appellate court level but waited until the case reached the Supreme Court before they decided to be joined in the suit for the sake of fair hearing.
Justice Coomasie held that the embattled council chiefs could no longer complain about fair hearing since they were aware of the case but did not seek to be joined at the lower court until the case got to the Supreme Court.
Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal and declared the election that brought the chairmen into office for about three years illegal, null and void.
In determining the case, the court held that the Osun State Electoral Law, which prescribed 21 days notice, could not take precedence over the Federal Electoral Act, 2006.
The Electoral Act, 2006 prescribes a mandatory 150-day notice to parties before an election could be held.  
The former Chief Judge of Osun State, late Justice Fasansi Ogunsola, had held that OSSIEC was right in giving a 21-day notice before the elections were conducted into the 30 local councils on December 14, 2007.
Dissatisfied by the ruling however, AC took the matter to the Court of Appeal, Ibadan, Oyo State which delivered its ruling last March and ordered the dissolution of the councils.
But OSSIEC and the 30 local council chairmen went to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict.
However, in a unanimous decision yesterday, all the five judges concurred with the decision by Justice Coomasie and ordered the removal of the 30 local council helmsmen.