Osun’s Parliamentary Variation

Last week’s local government elections in Osun State provided some kind of breather for the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration, coming months after the humiliating defeat it suffered during the senatorial bye-election that produced Senator Ademola Adeleke.

But in his characteristic nature, the governor did not surprise many when against the constitutional structure of the country’s presidential system he announced the introduction of a parliamentary system at the local government, obviously for political convenience. With this idea, he said the elected councilors would choose from amongst them, chairmen in the respective councils.

He obviously has not learnt from his recent experience where the courts dismissed his celebrated change of the name of the state from ‘Osun State’ to ‘State of Osun’. This is even as much a constitutional matter than the change of name. To wake up some day because the control of the councils is at the whims of the state and order a different system of government other than what the constitution prescribes is an affront to the constitution. But like it turned out with the change of name in the state, this too is certainly going to have its date in court soon.