…The Imo Governor In Early Constitutional Gaffes And Bureaucratic Breaches -By Nnamdi Obiaraeri

Your Excellency, congrats on your swearing in and assumption of office yesterday 29 May 2019.

Mr Governor Sir, permit me to point out that it is too early for you to start committing constitutional gaffes and bureaucratic breaches as evident in the way and manner you appointed your Special Adviser (Media) and your Chief Press Secretary.

Under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended, no Governor has the power to appoint Special Adviser(s) without clearance and approval from the State House of Assembly.

The office of Special Adviser is a creation of the Constitution.

Specifically, section 196(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that-

        The Governor of a State may appoint 
        any person as a Special Adviser to 
        assist him in the performance of his
        functions.

      (2) The number of such Advisers and 
       their remuneration and allowances
      shall be as prescribed by law or by 
      resolution of the House of Assembly
     of the State.

      (3) ...

      (4) A person appointed as a Special 
      Adviser under subsection (1) of this 
      section shall not begin to perform the
      functions of the office unless he has      
      declared his assets and liabilities as 
      prescribed in this Constitution and has 
      subsequently taken and subscribed
     the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of 
     Office prescribed in the Seventh Schedule
     to this Constitution.

The above immutable provision of the Constitution speaks for itself.

Therefore, your recent appointment of a Special Adviser (Media) without recourse to the IMHA and the attendant rituals is a flagrant disregard and breach of the Constitution you swore to uphold.

Furthermore, it is an aberration that the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor was the one who announced his appointment in a Press Release he signed himself.

This is a bureaucratic somersault.

This is to request that you please be guided properly by the law and the Constitution in your further dealings and take steps to revoke or revert the Constitutional and bureaucratic breaches already occasioned.

A new normal is possible!

Prof Obiaraeri is my name, an Imo Citizen.