The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Warri Branch says it welcomes the recent disbandment of the Taskforce on Traffic Control in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State.
Recall that the NBA Warri Branch in September 2023 approached the High Court of Justice, Effurun Judicial Council, Delta State to declare the chairman of Uvwie Local Government, Mr Ramson Onoyake not a fit and proper person to hold public office in Nigeria for setting up Uvwie Local Government Traffic Control Body and the Uvwie Local Government Environment Taskforce in May 2023 in breach of his powers to do so.
The suit was filed by Chief Oghenero Okoro, who is the 1st Claimant and the chairman, NBA Warri Branch and the Secretary, NBA Warri Branch, Sylvester Ediagbonuvie, the 2nd Claimant.
In a phone chat with NewsNet Nigeria on Friday, Chief Okoro, said, “The NBA, Warri Branch, welcomes the right step of dissolution of the traffic taskforce by the Uvwir Council chairman, Mr Ramson Onoyake. We are happy he has dissolved the task force even though the reason he gave was that the officials were highhanded. But, for us, the reason is because he doesn’t have the power to set them up in the first place. And that was why we went to court.
“We took note of his admission that he didn’t have the powers to set them up in the first which has been our position. Persons in government hardly accept they made mistakes and we thank Mr Onoyake for being forthright on the matter.
“We also hope that he will go further and dissolve the Uvwie Local Government Environmental Taskforce which he also doesn’t have the powers to set up. Our case against him was on these two planks.
“We have enough laws and agencies of government the Uvwie Council Chairman can interact or interface with to do those work in Uvwie. His argument is that is trying to create a lacuna because the existing bodies are ineffective. It is an illegality, we cannot be fighting incompetence with illegality.”