Governor Ademola Adeleke has been sued by the All Progressives Congress, APC, chapter in Osun State for naming himself Commissioner for Works.
In addition to the governor, Kola Adewusi was named Commissioner for Sports and Special Needs in the complaint filed at the State High Court in Osogbo.
On July 19, Governor Adeleke announced his appointment along with his choice for lieutenant governor.
The main opposition party filed an objection to the nominations through its lawyer, Sherif Oluyombo, who asked the court to rule on whether or not a governor can hold additional executive office positions simultaneously.
According to the complaint, the court should decide whether “a person can be validly appointed a commissioner of the government of a state if his nomination is not forwarded to and received by the State’s House of Assembly for purposes of confirmation.” This question is based on Section 192(2) and (5) of the Nigerian constitution.
Elected officials juggling many responsibilities is nothing new.
According to Infostride News, former president Muhammadu Buhari named himself petroleum minister in 2015, along with Ibe Kachikwu and later Timipre Sylva as ministers of state for petroleum in his second term in office, with no pushback from within his own party.
Should the court rule that elected officials cannot have twin appointments, the outcome of the case might potentially preclude president Tinubu from acting in a ministerial post.
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