Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Tuesday blamed opposition parties for his failure to conduct local government elections in the state in the last six years.
“The opposition knew from Day One that they have been trying to sabotage the election and one good way to do that is through litigation.
“We have been to the state’s High Court, the Federal High Court and up to the Supreme Court not once, and not twice,’’ he told a media parley in Katsina.
The governor accused the opposition of breaking their litigations into fractions so as to prolong the issue of local government elections and even make it impossible during his tenure.
“Luckily enough, this year, there was a decision by the Supreme Court that we should pay the sacked local government chairmen and councillors all their entitlements.
“The dissolution of their offices stands because even if they were in office, they would have completed their tenure,” he said.
He added that the opposition was sceptical about local government elections in the state by claiming that government was not sincere about its plan to conduct them in the first quarter of 2022.
The governor added that following the Supreme Court judgment, government set up a committee and almost 98 per cent of the payment to the affected officials was completed.
He said another committee was set up to conduct the local government elections in the first quarter of the new year.
“More than 70 per cent of what is required for the election is on ground,’’ he said.
Masari also reiterated his position on power shift to the southern part of the country in 2023, saying that would help to consolidate the nation’s federalism.
“Let me make my position very clear. This Constitution is made for us, and not we made for the Constitution.
“The Constitution does not say we must shift power, but if you shift have you violated any part of the Constitution?
“From my personal opinion as Aminu Bello Masari, until such a time when we have stable polity, I think rotation or shifting power from time to time will help consolidate our federalism.
Masari said he was a member of the Constitutional conference of 1994/95 during which a Federal Character Commission was provided.
He added that he was a member of the Transition Committee in 1999 and the committee initially suggested that each zone should be given an opportunity of five years through the instrumentality of the Constitution.
The suggestion did not see the light of day, he said.
Masari called on politicians, journalists, religious and traditional leaders to put the interest of the country ahead of their personal interests as the 2023 general elections approach.