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Akure-based legal practitioner, Femi Emodamori, has threatened to sue the Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, for what he described as a serious breach of Section 192 (2) and (6) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) by appointing just two Commissioners from two out of the eighteen Local Government Areas in the State, after One Hundred days of taking his oath of office.
He said Section 192 (1) of the Constitution provides that “There shall be such offices of Commissioners of the Government of a State as may be established by the Governor of the State”, while Section 192 (2) further provides that “Any appointment to the office of Commissioner of the Government of a State shall…be made by the Governor of that State and in making any such appointment the Governor shall conform with the provision of Section 14(4) of this Constitution.”
According to him, Section 192 (6) (a) of the Constitution further specifically states that “The nomination of any person to the office of a commissioner for confirmation by the House of Assembly shall be done within sixty days after the date the Governor has taken the oath of office.”
He argued that the word “shall” used in Section 192 (2) of the Constitution quoted above denotes a mandatory, imperative and obligatory sense; citing the judgment of the Supreme Court in ATIKU V. INEC (2023) 19 NWLR (PT. 1917) 761 AT PAGE 964 PARAGRAPH “F” as a supporting reference.
He vowed to drag the governor to court of he continues in the breaches in the coming days.
Governor Aiyedatiwa was sworn in on 24th February, 2025, more than 100 days ago.
However, he has appointed only two Commissioners from two out of the eighteen Local Government areas in Ondo State. The two Commissioners are for Finance, Omowunmi Isaac and Justice, Kayode Ajulo.
Shortly after he took over, Governor Aiyedatiwa appointed Taiwo Fasorsnti as Secretary to the State Government as well as Special Advisers. The SAs and their portfolios are Johnson Alabi, Power; Seun Osamaye, Women Affairs; Bola Taiwo, Union Matters & Special Duties and Simidele Odimayo, Health. Abiola Olawoye, was appointed Special Adviser, Infrastructure, Lands and Housing.
But Mr Emodamori says that the governor has committed “a very serious breach of Section 192(2).”
“The Governor must nominate his Commissioners for confirmation by
the State House of Assembly within Sixty days after the Governor
takes his oath of office; and
In making any such appointment, the Governor must conform with
Section 14(4) of the Constitution.
In other words, the Governor must comply with Section 14(4) of the
Constitution in nominating or appointing the Commissioners of the
Government of the State,” he posited.
“But what exactly does the said Section 14(4) of the Constitution say? It clearly states that: ‘The composition of the Government of a State, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognize the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation.”
The lawyer argued that, when Section 192(2) of the Constitution stipulates that the Governor must comply with Section 14(4) thereof in appointing Commissioners, it clearly implies that the Governor must spread the appointments to reflect the diversity of the people of the State.
“Section 192 (6) (a), as earlier stated, further mandates the Governor to nominate the Commissioners within sixty days after taking his oath of office,” he said.
“The provision of Section 192 (2) of the Constitution considered above is
similar to Section 147 (3) of the Constitution which provides that ‘Any
appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution: provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.”
Just as Section 2(2) of the Constitution states that “Nigeria shall be Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory”, Section 3(2) of the same Constitution also states that “Each State of Nigeria, named in the first column of Part I of the First Schedule to this Constitution,
shall consist of the area shown opposite thereto in the second column of that Schedule.”
“By a simple analogy, just as the President must appoint at least one Minister from each State for the purpose of giving effect to Section 14(3) of the Constitution, the Governor, I submit, must appoint at least one Commissioner from each of the Local Government Areas in the State in order to give effect to Section 14 (4) of the Constitution as stipulated by Section 192 (2) thereof,” Mr Emodamori said.
He further argued that the Governor had no justification not to have found competent persons amongst the galaxy of globally acclaimed intellectual assets in each of the Local Governments in Ondo State suitable for nomination as Commissioners.
Mr Emodamori also accused the governor of refusing to obey the provision of Section 121(3) of the Constitution which gives financial autonomy to the State Judiciary and the State House of Assembly.
The Section stipulates that any amount standing to the credit of the House of
Assembly and the Judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund shall be
paid directly to the two arms of Government.
“I instituted two separate court cases (AK/18M/2024 and AK/19M/2024) against them at the Ondo State High Court for violating the constitutional provisions guaranteeing financial autonomy for the State House of Assembly and the State Judiciary. The Court granted my prayers and ordered them to comply. It would shock Nigerians to know that Aiyedatiwa’s Attorney-General, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, rushed to the Court of Appeal over the two judgments,” he said.
“They said they do not want to obey Section 121(3) of the Constitution that says the Governor must give whatever belongs to the Judiciary to the Judiciary and whatever belongs to the House of Assembly to the House, for them to execute their respective projects.”
The Ondo State Judiciary Staff Union (JUSUN) has given a 7-day strike notice to the Governor over his failure to implement the financial autonomy of the State Judiciary.
Mr Emodamori said he believed that the failure of Governor Aiyedatiwa to appoint commissioners in compliance with Section 192(2) and (6) (a) of the Constitution was to enable him run the government like a Sole Administrator.
“This, to me, portends a red flag for corruption and abuse of office. It must be stopped,” he further said.
“I will certainly drag the Governor to court if this aberration continues much longer. As the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi would say, a legal practitioner must be prepared to stand by the truth, stand for the truth, and stand with the truth, even if he has to stand alone.”
Reacting to the allegations on Sunday, the state government says the state cabinet has the full complement of commissioners and special advisers.
“The Governor has a cabinet already with commissioners and special advisers covering critical sectors like Health, Infrastructure, Justice, Finance, Energy, etc.,” Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ebenezer Adeniyan, said.
“Therefore, he has not flouted any provision of the Constitution.
“What is left to be done is to expand the cabinet with more members and he will do that in the coming days.”