Oyo govt awaits court ruling on removal of LGA chairmen —Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said on Thursday the state government would wait for the final court judgement on the removal of local council chairmen in the state.

Makinde had on May 29 last year sacked the local council chairmen who were elected during the administration of late former governor of the state, Abiola Ajimobi.

The Oyo State High Court had earlier this year nullified the council officials’ sack.

Dissatisfied by the ruling, the governor approached the Appeal Court to upturn the lower court’s ruling.

The appellate court on July 15 upheld the sack of the chairmen, a development that forced the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) officials in the state to equally approach the Supreme Court for justice on the matter.

READ ALSO: Sacked Oyo LG chairmen defy Makinde’s order, vow to remain in office

However, at the inauguration of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) board on Thursday, Makinde said the conduct of local government elections had been his priority since he assumed office in 2019.

He said: “The issue of local government elections has been a tough one since we took over office in 2019. Of course, it is a matter of records that we had to take the tough decision of inaugurating local government caretaker chairmen to fill the void created by the suspended chairmen. The decision did not come easily.

“We still await what the court will say. We are law-abiding administration. But we have to move forward with governance and we recognise the importance of the government of the grassroots level.

“Today, as I am inaugurating the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission. The ‘independent’ in the commission’s name means that they are not to be influenced by any arm of government. I fully intend to make sure they perform their duties without fear or favour and in an unbiased way.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now