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FULL LIST: 20 States With Local Government Caretaker Committees

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Photo credit: Nation

Most states have resorted to governing the local governments through caretaker committees set up by the State Government.

This is contrary to Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees the system of local government by democratically elected officials.

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Caretaker committees have become a prevalent practice in different states across the federation, and are fast replacing local government councils.

Factors fingered for the inability of many States to conduct council polls include insecurity, paucity of funds as well as political and legal battles.

Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Court declaring that it is unconstitutional for Governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations further raised the question of how LG helmsmen are routinely sacked from office and replaced with Caretaker Committees.

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These are the states running local governments with caretaker committees as complied by The Nation:

READ ALSO: BREAKING States Lose As Supreme Court Rules On LG Financial Autonomy

1. Rivers – Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara appointed caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas as he continues his battle with his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, for the control of the political structure in the oil-rich state.

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2. Jigawa – On June 28, 2024, the government of Jigawa State dissolved the elected council chairmen of the 27 local governments.

3. Anambra – On June 20, 2024, Governor Charles Soludo, through the House of Assembly, confirmed the appointment of transition committee chairmen and councillors for the 21 local government areas.

4. Zamfara – In Zamfara, the last grassroots poll was held on April 27, 2019, and the State returned to appointees after the chairmen’s tenures expired. In May 2024, the Assembly approved a six-month extension for the caretaker committee.

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5. In Benue, however, elections are scheduled to be held on July 6, 2024, for LG council chairmen.

6. Bauchi – Last year, Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, sworn in 20 appointed local government area caretaker committee chairmen with their deputies.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Supreme Court Bars Govs From Sacking LG Chairmen

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7. Plateau – June 2023, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau inaugurated the Interim Transition Committee chairpersons for its 17 local government areas at Government House Jos.

8. Abia – In December 2023, Abia Governor Alex Otti, inaugurated the 17 local government transition council chairpersons.

9. Enugu – In March 2024, Enugu State Government ordered local government chairmen in the 17 councils to hand over administration to heads of personnel management after the expiration of their tenures.

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10. Katsina

11. Kano – In March 2024, Gov. Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State recommended names of Interim Management Committee members for Local Government Areas of the state to its House of Assembly for screening and confirmation.

12. Sokoto

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13. Yobe – In April 2024, Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, approved the dissolution of all the 17 local government councils of the state, and also directed all local government chairmen to handover the affairs of their respective local governments to Directors of Personnel Management.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Supreme Court Bars FG From Paying Allocations To LGs With Unelected Officials

14. Ondo – Ondo State Government also constituted Caretaker Committees for the 18 Local Councils and 33 Local Council Development Areas, (LCDA).

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15. Osun – In February 2024, Osun Assembly extended the tenure of office and re-appointed caretaker committees of 30 Local Government Areas and 39 others running Modakeke Area Office and Local Council Development Areas in the state.

The extension was subsequently secured for the caretaker chairmen, vice chairmen, scribes and their members’ fresh six months tenure, beginning in February and ending in August 2024.

16. Delta

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17. Akwa-Ibom – Governor Umo Eno last year through a letter with reference number GHU/AKS/S/104/VOL.1/607, addressed to the Speaker, Hon. Udeme Otong, informed the House of Assembly that there was no provision in the 2023 budget for the conduct of local government elections.

He urged the Assembly to pass a resolution authorising him to set up interim administration at the 31 local government areas at the expiration of the tenure of the elected council officials.

19. In Imo State, the last council poll was conducted on August 25, 2018, which was the first in seven years.

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20. In Kwara State, the last council election was in November 2017 with caretaker committees in charge since 2020.

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Politics

Anambra Govt Insists Ekwunife Retracts Defamatory Statements Against Soludo, Wife

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The Anambra State Government has insisted that Senator Uche Ekwunife’s contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements against Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his wife, Nonye.

Senior Special Assistant to Governor Soludo on New Media, Ejimofor Opara, in a statement on Wednesday said Senator Ekwunife’s purported apology is another fabrication fit for the waste bin.

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Our attention has been drawn to a press statement purporting to emanate from an entity described as the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization” and captioned “EKWUNIFE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION DISOWNS AND CONDEMNS MALICIOUS ARTICLE ASSOCIATED WITH HER”. This purported apology from a seemingly fictitious organization raises more questions than answers,” Opara said.

Worse still, the statement was signed by an unknown person who was not the source of Madam Ekwunife’s slur remarks against the Governor and his wife.

READ ALSOAlleged Infidelity: Soludo’s Wife Issues Senator Ekwunife Ultimatum To Apologize

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“The publication, authored by one Tony Ezike, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, presents several issues: The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements made against the Governor and his wife personally by Senator Ekwunife, does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation.”

Opara said it is a known fact that there is no campaign organization known as the Ekwunife Campaign Organization since Senator Ekwunife’s ticket is a joint one with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said this suggests that the statement did not truly emanate from Senator Ekwunife and therefore cannot be credited to her, adding that at best, it may be a ploy to prevaricate the fundamental issues posed by the First Lady in her personally signed statement.

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Opara added that wherein Soludo’s wife challenged Senator Ekwunife to two key issues, first of which, is that she, as a converted Catholic, agrees to swear to an oath before the blessed sacrament that she has not known any other man since her marriage to Chief Larry Ekwunife, and she (Dr. Nonye Soludo) would also do same.

READ ALSO:Court Orders Arrest Of 2 Lawyers Over Alleged Forgery, Impersonation

The second is for her to accept an all expense paid DNA test of her four children, three of whom were allegedly fathered by men other than her husband. In like manner, Mrs Soludo would present her six children for same test.

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Opara argued that the defamatory publications were directly made by Senator Ekwunife through audio recordings and statements, stressing that any apology or retraction should logically come from the same source to carry significance.

He added that sadly, the so-called apology never referenced Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but chose to focus on an unsigned article.

Opara further said: “The purported apology referencing an unknown article with unknown authors, only points to one thing, and that is her complicity directly or indirectly as the source of the article—which contains only one of the many accusations she made against the Governor’s wife—it implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered.

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READ ALSO:VIDEO: Soludo Bans Loud Preaching In Anambra Markets, Threatens N500,000 Fine

The publication is not considered an apology or retraction by Senator Ekwunife and is believed not to emanate from her. If she intended to apologize, she should present it in a manner that leaves no doubt about its source or reliability.

“More importantly, slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or person other than the individual who made them.

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“We consider the purported apology as another unsubstantiated social media gossip/fabrication that is neither verifiable nor credible. It leaves ample room for plausible deniability.

READ ALSO: AAC Elects Woman To Battle Soludo In Gov Poll

“We will proceed as if this piece of propaganda never happened, while maintaining the position that a proper and direct retraction of all fabrications against the Governor and his wife by Senator Ekwunife is necessary.”

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Opara added that such a retraction should be made through a medium that leaves no doubt about its authenticity.

Therefore, he said that a contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of Ekwunife’s defamatory statements.

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Why Ibadan Shouldn’t Produce Next Oyo Gov — Group

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A group of eminent indigenes across 22 local government areas outside Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, under the aegis of Oyo G22 Renewed, has lamented what it described as decades of marginalisation in the governance of the state.

The group, in an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and the national and state chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, and African Democratic Congress, decried what it called a “historic and intolerable imbalance and insensitivity being perpetrated in Oyo State as far as the governorship slot is concerned.”

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Among those who signed the letter were Prof. Wande Abimbola, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Prof. Sulaiman Gbadegesin, Dr. Adesokan Ojebode, Prof. Nurain Tanimowo, Mr. Dokun Alagbe, Dr Akin Onigbinde and retired General Kunle Togun.

Since 1983, the group pointed out, Ibadan had produced Omololu Olunloyo, Kolapo Ishola, Lamidi Adesina, Rashidi Ladoja, Abiola Ajimobi, and the incumbent Makinde as governors.

READ ALSO:Oyo Declares Work-free Day For Isese Day

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They therefore called on all political parties in the state to ensure that their 2027 governorship candidates emerge from the non-Ibadan zones of Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibarapa, and Oke-Ogun.

They noted that the only non-Ibadan indigene to emerge governor was the late Adebayo Alao-Akala from Ogbomoso, who governed between May 2007 and May 2011.

The letter read, “A cursory look at the pattern of governorship candidates and elections in other South-West states has revealed that, contrary to the winner-takes-all situation in Oyo State, no particular zone has been dominating the political landscape of their respective states.

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“All told, the voting pattern in Oyo State has consistently shown that only 30 per cent of the voting population in Ibadan are Ibadan indigenes. The implication of this is that the remaining 70 per cent belong to the other zones of the state as well as non-indigenes of Oyo State.”

READ ALSO:Accountant Jailed 15 Years For Defrauding Oyo Job Applicants

They urged Ibadan indigenes to abandon what they termed an uncompromising posture and, in the interest of “justice, peaceful co-existence, equity, and fairness,” ensure that candidates from the 22 LGAs outside Ibadan produce the next governor.

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“We, on behalf of the 22 local government areas outside Ibadan in the state, are determined to make the following changes: that all political parties in the state should support this peaceful and legitimate demand of the remaining four zones in the state by ensuring that their respective parties nominate governorship candidates from among the 22 local government areas for the 2027 general election.

“That you prevail on your political platform to make this a reality and a realisable objective in the interest of all.

“While we are not oblivious of the fact that you belong to different political platforms, apart from our current interest in rotating the governorship seat in Oyo State, as a neutral body, we wish every platform success in the forthcoming general election in 2027.

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“However, we would be earnestly delighted to give our unflinching support to those who support this, our only aspiration.

READ ALSO:Millions Of Naira Lost As Fire Guts Oyo Factory

“In thanking you for giving thoughts to this, our humble consideration, we are confident that your intervention, as the leaders of your various platforms, would soften the hearts of our Ibadan co-compatriots on this vexed issue,” the letter read.

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Citing examples from neighbouring states, the group further argued that governors of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States were typically not indigenes of the state capitals, unlike in Oyo, where Ibadan has largely dominated the governorship.

“For instance, since the creation of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States, apart from rotating the governorship slot, no indigene of the state capitals—Akure, Osogbo, and Ado-Ekiti—has been elected governor of these three states. The citizens of the state capital have always ensured that the governor comes from outside the state capital. In Ogun State, the slot oscillates between the Egbas and the Ijebus.

“Even at the federal level, if the North had weaponised its famed voting population, no Southerner would have emerged as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is where the seeming uncompromising posture of Ibadan becomes an issue,” the letter read.

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FULL TEXT: Tinubu Ends State Of Emergency In Rivers State

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My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration. The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together. Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised.

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The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor. The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs.

That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State. My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

READ ALSO:BREAKING: Tinubu Ends State Of Emergency In Rivers

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It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency. The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State. I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration. That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

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READ ALSO:Lawyers Drag Tinubu To Court, Seek Emergency Rule In Zamfara

Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

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The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance. This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

READ ALSO:Rivers Emergency Rule: Why I Walked Out – Senator Dickson Opens Up On What Happened At Senate Close Section

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It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

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Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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