There is a growing concern in Osun State as the governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke refused to hold regular executive council meetings with his cabinet.
Adeleke only held four state executive council meetings in the last one year, a clear departure from the conventional practice of weekly meetings.
A civil rights activist in the state, Comrade Waheed Saka, said the failure of the governor to hold regular state executive council meetings is a dangerous signal for the state.
He noted that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria expressly provides that governors shall hold regular meetings with their cabinets, in running the affairs of the state.
Saka said the tradition by successive administrations in the state was to hold the state executive council meetings weekly.
According to him, “Section 193 subsection 2 of the 1999 constitution provides that the governor shall convey state executive council meetings at regular intervals to determine the policy direction of government”
“The current administration has not been able to hold state executive council meetings regularly which is unfortunate,” Saka noted.
A professor of law at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, said the constitution did not mention the specific interval a cabinet meeting should be held but said conventional practices should not be jettisoned.
“As far as the law is concerned, the law does not stipulate the number of executive council meetings but the governor is expected to hold the meeting regularly as a conventional practice.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Barrister Kola Alimi said “State executive council meeting is at the discretion of the governor.
“Some governors might choose the style of holding it every week whether they have serious matters to discuss or not.
“So far, the style of our governor is that we hold the state executive council meetings whenever we have serious issues and serious matters to discuss.
“And that’s what we have been doing. No law that says we must hold state executive council meetings every week.”