CLO blames A’Ibom Assembly for passage of controversial Traditional Rulers Council Law

The Civil Liberties Organisation in Akwa Ibom State has accused the State House of Assembly of not checking existing legislation in Nigeria before approving the contentious Traditional Rulers Council legislation Cap 55.

In his inaugural address over the weekend, the organization’s state chairman, Godknows Njoku, said that the newly modified law is discriminatory and disrespectful.

Because of these contradictions, he demanded that the law be declared void.

After realising the governor’s good faith, the state’s CLO reversed its decision to join the litigation as a plaintiff, saying that traditional rulers could write to the government if they are unhappy with the law.

In a move that disregards a longstanding rotational provision among all the paramount rulers in the state, the law grants perpetual leadership of the Traditional Rulers Council to the Oku Ibom Ibibio. This has sparked controversies in the polity, as Infostride News recalls, with various youth and women’s groups as well as traditional rulers from the minority ethnic groups including the Annang, the Oro, and others.

The statement reads in part: “The matter is now in court, but we can safely say that the House of Assembly that we respect, did not consider many things, especially the extant laws of the country before they came to that conclusion.”

Considering the potential impact on other minority tribes, we believe that the state House of Assembly should have looked into federal law before passing this bill. This is especially true given Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution, which was revised in 2023. The current version of the law is discriminatory and offensive.