A former Dean, Faculty of Law, Imo State University, Owerri, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, has said that Governor Hope Uzodimma did not err in law by appointing himself the Commissioner for Lands in the state, noting, however, that the governor must not be sworn in again.
Obiaraeri, a former commissioner in some ministries in the state, made the justification in a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday.
Uzodimma had, on April 30, while inaugurating 24 Commissioners and Special Advisers, disclosed his assumption as the Commissioner for the Ministry of Lands, leading to some criticisms on the legality of such action.
In a statement titled, ‘Nifty tips for public office holders in Nigeria for the attention of the newly inaugurated members of Imo State Expanded Executive Council,’ the professor of law faulted those who had been criticising the governor for appointing himself a commissioner. He stressed that it is constitutional since it was statutory to create any ministry except that of the Ministry of Justice, which is already mandatory in the statute books.
He said: “The governor can reassign any appointee, keep any portfolio or responsibility to himself and can assign it to anyone as he pleases.
“In this way, it is a waste of jurisprudential ink to argue, as some have ignorantly done, that the governor was not right to name himself as the person in charge of the Ministry of Lands.
Section 192(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, provides that there shall be such offices of Commissioners of the government of a state as may be established by the governor of the state. The word “may” deployed here is discretionary. It is in the governor’s absolute discretion to create any number of ministries and/or name ministries, including assigning Commissioners or persons to oversee the same.
“Furthermore, Section 193(1) of the Constitution also provides that “the governor of a state may, in his discretion, assign to the Deputy Governor or any Commissioner of the government of the state responsibility for any business of the government of that state, including the administration of any department of government.”