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OYO: Suspended council chairmen dare Makinde, insist on staying put

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Actions with effect beyond May 29 will be considered to be in bad faith', Makinde warns in letter to Ajimobi

Suspended council chairmen under the aegis of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Oyo State chapter have insisted on their resistance of Governor Seyi Makinde’s order which asked them to vacate their office.

The council chairmen while justifying their decision said the election that brought them to office was not in any way conducted against any court order.

The group through its chairman, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye explained that the court ordered the PDP government is laying claim to had been vacated in a Federal High Court ruling, which allowed the conduct of the council elections across the state on May 12, 2018.

But the governor, through his Chief of Staff, Chief Bisi Ilaka while vindicating the sack of the council bosses, had insisted that the conduct of the local government polls were against a valid court order, adding that the injunction gotten by the affected chairmen was an ‘arrangee judgement’

He, however, advised the sacked council chairmen to proceed to court to challenge the government’s decision, stressing that the government will only harken to a valid court order.

“In Oyo State, we have a history of lots of unconstitutional behaviours by the former government. This last local government was put together in an election that was against a subsisting court order.

“I know people will go about and say, those local government executives also went to court to get an order but we all know that that was an ‘arrangee’ judgement.

“It was filed by the same people against the same side that did not oppose the application. We want to rewrite all the things that have gone wrong in this state.

“So, for us, we intend to obey court orders that are valid. So, we are waiting for them to challenge our decision of this administration, we have nothing to hide.

“In the meanwhile, we have directed that the Heads of various administration in the various Local Governments to take over.

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“So, the way the issues have been resolved is that the local government executives have been shown their way out and that is how it is going to be as at now.

“As soon as we come back to make further adjustment to our positions, we will let the people of Oyo state know where we are. But as at now, they stand dissolved”, the governor said.

In response, ALGON in a statement signed by their chairman expressed disappointment in the claim by Makinde’s government.

They alleged that the choice of “white lies, arrogance and executive lawlessness” taken by the government to cover up its crime in the stead of truth is not good enough.

The chairmen said: “In its response to its act of illegality of dissolving democratically elected local government administration, all discerning minds expected Oyo state government to defend its act of lawlessness and contempt of a subsisting court judgement on point of law and on absolute truth. But unfortunately, Governor Seyi Makinde administration opted for the path of ‘white lies’, arrogance and executive lawlessness.

“Unlike the concocted lies spewed to the press by Makinde’s Chief of Staff, Chief Bisi Ilaka, we hereby restate that the local government election conducted during the administration of the ex-governor Abiola Ajimobi was never conducted against a Court Order.

“The court order that Chief Ilaka ‘got stranded with’ was vacated on May 10, 2018.”

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