Why I’ll not pay sacked Oyo LGA chairmen now – Makinde

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said on Saturday he would not pay the sacked local government chairmen until the Supreme Court gives him the go-ahead.

He stated this while reacting to the garnishee order on state government accounts recently secured from the Federal High Court, Abuja, by the local government chairmen sacked in May 2019.

Justice A.O. Ebong had on December 15 issued an order on the state government’s accounts in 10 commercial banks in the country.

The judge gave the order while ruling on a garnishee proceeding initiated by the sacked local government chairmen.

The Supreme Court on May 7, 2021, nullified the sack of the chairmen and councilors as pronounced by the governor during his inauguration in 2019.

READ ALSO: Makinde to present Oyo 2024 budget estimate on December 5

The sacked council chairmen had gotten a N4,874,889,425.60 judgment against Makinde and other agencies of the state of which N1.5 billion had been paid.

In his reaction to the ruling, the governor said his government would not bow to pressure to pay the state’s money into the wrong hands until all legal means were exhausted.

He insisted that the sack of the former council chairmen was justified because their elections were premised on unconstitutionality.

The governor also described the ruling as an abuse of court process.

Makinde stated: “The ex-LG chairmen will not get a dime until the Supreme Court asks us to pay. I will not pay into wrong people. This is a government that is based on the constitution.”

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