The Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde has been reported to President Mohammadu Buhari by the sacked Chairmen of Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Oyo State under the auspices of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) for removing them from office.
The Chairmen in a letter dated June 3, and signed by the ALGON Chairman and Secretary in the state, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye and Mr. Olayinka Jesutoye respectively urged the president to call the governor to order arguing that there is a valid and subsisting court judgment that restrains any governor from sacking them.
Recall that Justice Aderonke Aderemi of the Oyo State High Court on May 6 had given an order of injunction restraining the the Oyo Sate Governor, his servants, agents, privies or any person whosoever from dissolving the 33 Local Government Councils and 35 Local Council Development Areas in Oyo State or removing, suspending, terminating and or doing anything whatsoever to truncate the tenure of the claimants(Chairmen) except in accordance with the provisions of section 7 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended).
In their petition, the embattled council bosses asked the president to advise the governor to respect the will of the people of Oyo State to have the Local Government areas run by the Chairmen and Councillors who were democratically elected by the electorate in the area.
They alleged that there have been persistent threats from the governor and members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party(PDP) in the state to forcefully take over the administration of the local councils, a situation they say may lead to breakdown of law, order and public peace.
They urged the president to wade into the matter and ensure that the rule of law prevails before it degenerates into chaos that will truncate the peace the state has enjoyed in the last eight years.
