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Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Hope of 33 local government chairmen and 35 chairmen of local council development areas of Oyo State, remaining in office after they were sacked by Governor Seyi Makinde on May 29, this year, suffered a setback, yesterday.
All the 68 chairmen were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Ladiran Akintola of an Oyo State High Court granted a stay of execution against a motion filed by the sacked chairmen, seeking to enforce the May 6 judgement they obtained before they were sacked.
The embattled chairmen had prayed the court to restrain Governor Makinde’s order that sacked them.
The court struck out the motion for lack of diligent prosecution, saying since the state government has appealed the judgement, it would be an abuse of court processes to grant order for execution of the judgement.
The May 6 judgement, delivered by Justice Aderonke Aderemi, prevented the Oyo State government, the governor, the House of Assembly or any of its agent from removing council, LCDA chairmen and councillors from office.
The sacked chairmen, under the aegis of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Oyo State chapter, had filed the motion to enforce the judgement, saying the governor is planning to appoint caretaker chairmen for the dissolved councils.
Akintola said: “I am satisfied with the defendants’ application and I hereby grant the motion of notice of appeal of the defendant. I hereby grant the stay of execution of the judgement, enforcing the judgement, giving effect to the judgement by the claimants or their privies.”
Counsel to ALGON, Kunle Sobaloju, was absent at yesterday’s proceedings and was not represented in court. But he sent a letter to the court, in which he asked for an adjournment of the case to October 10. He also filed a counter affidavit against the resolution of the House of Assembly on July 9, which supported the governor’s action.
But the lead counsel to the defendants, Adeniyi Farinto, opposed the application and urged the court to reject the letter and the counter affidavit, saying it was frivolous and calculated to delay proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed the ruling.
A statement by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Akeem Olatunji, indicated that the court ruling was in clear adherence to the dictates of the rule of law.
In the same vein, embattled ALGON chairman in the state, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, said: “It has come to our knowledge the lies being circulated on the social media by the PDP on the position of the High Court in the case between the Oyo ALGON and the governor, and there is need to liberate the minds of the discerning readers and listeners with the true position of things.
“To set the record straight, the judgement of the court delivered on May 6, affirming three years tenure of the local government and which also nullified the sections of the Oyo State Local Government Laws, which empowers the governor and the House of Assembly has not been stayed or set aside because it is only the Court of Appeal that can do so.
“We therefore urge the governor to be patient for the outcome of his appeal at the Court of Appeal because to do otherwise, on the misconceived, misinterpreted purported stay of execution will amount to assault on our judiciary, which is also capable of rendering the said appeal pending at the Court of Appeal nugatory,” the ALGON chairman said.
