Confusion as Makinde claims Supreme Court upheld sack of 68 ex-council chiefs in Oyo

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said on Wednesday the 68 former local council chairmen in the state caused a serious crisis for his administration.

The governor, who stated this during the official presentation of flags to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates contesting elections in Ibadan North-East and Ibadan South-East LGAs, claimed the May 7 ruling of the Supreme Court has validated the sack of the council chairmen and their councilors.

He added that the court had given the go-ahead for the conduct of a fresh election in the state.

Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) will hold election in all the 33 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state on Saturday.

Makinde had in 2019 sacked the 68 local council chiefs elected during the administration of late former governor Abiola Ajimobi the previous year.

The chairmen and their councillors were members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The aggrieved council chairmen later approached the Supreme Court to overturn their sack by the governor.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgment overturned the governor’s decision to sack the council officials.

READ ALSO: Dismissed Oyo LG chairmen kick against council polls ahead of Supreme Court judgment

The apex court held the replacement of the sacked officials with caretaker committees was illegal and fined the state government N20 million.

While the court agreed that the tenures of the sacked council chairmen and councillors have expired, it ordered the state government to pay all their outstanding salaries and allowances with immediate effect.

Makinde said: “When we sent the chairmen away, the then Inspector-General of Police and Attorney- General of the Federation, ordered that the police should usher them back to their various councils, but about two weeks ago, the Supreme Court finally sent them away. This action, practically, has validated the exercise we want to engage in on Saturday.”

“When I was elected as governor of the state and got sworn in at the Liberty Stadium, we sent the ‘All-gone Chairmen’ away. Are they all gone now or not?

“It is not as if they did not cause crisis but we got the victory because God is bigger than them and we need to thank God for that.

“So, I want to assure you that the local government will complement all the things we have been doing at the state level.”

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