Why Promise Uzoma Okoro’s Commentary on Obingwa Land Powers Misleads the Public

The recent write-up attempting to discredit the Mayor of Obingwa Local Government Area, Hon. Maxwell Nwadike, over the land dispute at 195 Ikot Ekpene Road, Aba, is nothing short of a deliberate distortion of Nigeria’s constitutional provisions and the Land Use Act.

First, let it be clearly stated: Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees the system of democratically elected Local Government Councils and empowers them to perform functions conferred by law. Among these functions, the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution specifically provides for the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of markets within local government areas. Markets, by their very nature, involve land administration at the grassroots, which puts the LGA in a legitimate position to intervene in matters directly affecting community market lands.

Contrary to the impression created by the writer, the Land Use Act of 1978, while vesting land in each state in the Governor, also delegates authority to Local Governments under Section 6(1) to control and manage lands within rural and urban areas for purposes such as market development, agriculture, and communal needs. This provision has consistently been upheld in practice across Nigeria where local councils exercise authority over community lands for public purposes.

It is therefore disingenuous and misleading for Promise Uzoma Okoro to claim that “no Local Government has the powers to acquire or recover land.” The law clearly provides such powers, albeit within the framework of state oversight. The Local Government cannot be stripped of its role in land matters, especially in relation to community assets such as markets that fall squarely under its jurisdiction.

Second, the writer conveniently references a 2007 judgment without providing details of its scope, context, or whether the ruling permanently extinguished communal rights and LGA oversight on the said land. Nigerian jurisprudence recognizes that land disputes, especially involving communal or market purposes, can resurface where issues of fraud, misrepresentation, or unlawful transfer arise. The Constitution and our laws provide continuous avenues for redress and review, and no judgment permanently bars an affected authority from revisiting ownership claims if fresh issues emerge.

Third, the attempt to ridicule Hon. Maxwell Nwadike as being driven by “political showmanship” exposes the writer’s bias. If indeed the matter was so straightforward and “conclusively settled” as claimed, why the agitation and lengthy attempt to discredit a sitting Mayor rather than allow the courts, the Surveyor-General, and the Abia State Government to address the substance of the petition? The very desperation to shut down inquiry raises questions about vested interests in the said land.

It is also important to remind the public that the Nigerian Constitution is supreme. Section 1(3) clearly states that if any law or action is inconsistent with the Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail. By extension, any argument that seeks to deny Local Governments their constitutionally guaranteed functions, including land administration in the context of market regulation collapses under constitutional scrutiny.

Finally, the smear on Mayor Maxwell’s credibility does not stand the test of fact or law. The Mayor, as Chief Executive of Obingwa LGA, acted within his mandate to protect communal interest in market land. Those seeking to silence him with half-baked legal interpretations should be reminded that Local Governments are not mere spectators in land governance, they are constitutionally recognized stakeholders.

The public must therefore disregard the misleading claims of Promise Uzoma Okoro. The matter at hand is not about political grandstanding, but about safeguarding the constitutional roles of Local Governments, ensuring transparency in land allocation, and protecting community interests from encroachment under the guise of past judgments or political narratives.

@𝑻𝒉𝒆𝑲𝑬𝑳𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑶𝑹 …✍🏼

(𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥)