The Supreme Court on Friday held that the illegal removal of 148 elected local government officials by the Abia State governor smacked of “official recklessness”.
In a judgment delivered yesterday, a seven-member panel of justices of the apex court said no state governor has the right to illegally remove a democratically elected local government official.
The apex court also ordered the Abia State Government to pay the sacked 148 elected officials of the local government areas of the state their salaries and entitlement for the 23 months they had to stay in office prior to the expiration of their tenure.
The Supreme Court also awarded a cost of N25, 000 against the appellant after throwing out the appeal filed by the state government.
It would be recalled that in June 2006, the then Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, had illegally local government elected officials in the state, comprising local government chairmen and counsellors.
