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Gov Lalong not committed to out-of-court settlement – sacked LG chairmen

NAN-H-9

Lalong

Mangu (Plateau) Aug. 20, 2017 (NAN) Local Government Chairmen sacked by Gov. Simon Lalong in 2015, say the Plateau governor is not committed to an out-of-court settlement of their matter with him.

Their spokesman, Mr Caleb Mutfwamg, former chairman of Mangu Local Government, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Mangu that the governor’s team had been “`dodgy” about settling out-of-court.

Lalong had, on June 15, 2015 sacked the elected chairmen who still had more than a year to serve out their two-year tenure.

The government replaced them with Interim Management Committees.

Miffed by the governor’s action, the local government officials, through their Counsel, Mr Philemon Daffi, dragged Lalong to court to press for damages.

Justice Philomena Lot of Plateau State High Court IV, who presided over the case, however advised both parties to explore the possibility of an out-of-court settlement since they were “all brothers and sisters”, a suggestion both parties agreed to.

But Mutfwang told NAN that the governor, who had appeared excited about the possibility of an out-of-court settlement two years, had not demonstrated any commitment to it.

“Clearly, Governor Lalong is not interested in any out-of-court settlement; he is just not serious about it.

“We agreed to meet two months ago; we were at the venue and waited for several hours, but no one showed up from his side.

“Since that day, no one has called to apologise for keeping us waiting or even to fix another meeting.

“No one has deemed it fit to call to explain what is happening. Our conclusion is that the governor was never interested in that arrangement in the first place and merely deceived the judge into thinking he was.

“It does appear that the governor just wasted our time. Two years have passed but we have not gone anywhere in the pursuit of this case,” he said.

Mutfwang said that Justice David Mann, who took over the case after Lot retired two months ago, called up the matter on July 31, and gave the parties up to Sept. 29, 2017 to report back to court with the final terms of settlement.

“Mann’s order was given three weeks ago, but up to this point, we haven’t heard from either Lalong or his Counsel as to when we shall meet.

“We are already thinking of the next action to take; the only sad thing is that we were deceived into feeling that we could settle out-of-court and have lost a lot of precious time,” he said

But Mr Jonathan Mawiyau, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, has said that Lalong was serious and committed to settling the matter out-of-court.

“It is not true that the Governor is not serious about settling out of court. He is actually committed to it and doing his best to settle this issue.

“The former local government officials should be fair to us by telling you how far we have gone in our discussions with them.

“I have been away to Morocco where I spent two weeks. I returned a week ago and have been very busy.

“We are serious and committed to settling the issue with them. We shall soon resume discussions so as to agree on the final terms that we shall present to the court on Sept. 29, 2017,” Mawiyau said. (NAN)

TYC/ETS

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Edited by Ephraims Sheyin

Judiciary

Judge advises Lalong, sacked LG officials, to settle out of court

 

NAN-H-98
Advice
Jos, March 10, 2017 (NAN) Justice Philomena Lot of Plateau High Court IV, has advised the Plateau Government and sacked Local Government Chairmen to pursue an out-of-court settlement to the dispute arising from the sack.

The judge gave the advice on Friday in Jos, while addressing lawyers to both parties in the case brought before her by the sacked chairmen and vice chairmen of the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Gov. Simon Lalong had, on July 6, 2015, sacked the elected council officials, and replaced them with interim management committees.

No reason was given for the sack of the council officials that had two years left of their three-years tenure, when they were removed.

Aggrieved by the action, the sacked officials dragged Lalong, the State’s Attorney General, the State House of Assembly and Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to court as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants.

The officials, through their Counsel, Mr Philemon Daffi, asked the court to declare their sack as “unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional, null and void’’.

They also requested for an order compelling the defendants to pay them an accumulative N250,123,075.86 being their withheld salaries and allowances, from July 2015 to March 3, 2017 to complete the residues of their respective tenures.

When the case came up on Friday, the judge advised lawyers to both parties to talk to their clients toward finding a common ground for an out-of-court settlement.

“I want to advise you to call your clients and discuss with them to find a common ground to settle this matter out of court; if that is done, it will be good for this state.

“We are all from this state (Plateau); we don’t have any other place. So we should embrace peace so that we can go on with life, smiling with one another.

“I think it can be done peacefully just as it happened in the past with a past regime; this is my own candid advice,’’ she stated.

Mr Sunday Obende, Counsel to Lalong, who welcomed the advice, said that the state government was disposed to any favourable settlement, and promised to explore any opportunity in that respect.

“My Lord, I will definitely engage my client in a discussion to see how we can look into your good advice,’’ Obende promised.

Daffi, in his response, also welcomed the idea “so long as the other parties will accept it”.

Mrs. Florence Lotben, Counsel to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants, also welcomed the suggestion, and promised to also persuade her clients into seeing how the matter could be settled out of court.

Lotben, however, told the court that she had an application which she intended to serve the court and other lawyers, and asked the court for an adjournment to enable her effect service as expected by law.

The judge adjourned the case to April 10, for hearing on Lotben’s application and the substantive suit. (NAN)

TYC/OIF/ETS

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(Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo and Ephraims Sheyin