Less than 48 hours into his reign as the newly-elected Governor of Oyo state, Governor Seyi Makinde has receive strong negative criticisms within some quarters of the state.
Shortly after he took oath of office, Makinde ordered the dissolution of the entire Local Government councils within the state via a statement signed by his chief of staff, Mr Bisi Ilaka and this hasn’t gone down well with some people claiming to be speaking in line with the constitution.
The affected local government council chairmen all resisted the directive of the governor and vowed to remain in office as they were duly elected by the people not appointed.
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The council bosses, under the aegis of Association of Local Government of Nigeria(ALGON), at a press conference in Ibadan on Thursday said there is a subsisting valid court order which prohibited the governor from dissolving elected local council authorities in the state.
The Chairman of ALGON in the state, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Alshinloye, who spoke on behalf of the council chairmen described Makinde’s action as unconstitutional and a violation of a subsisting court order.
He said: “ALGON, Oyo State rejects the unconstitutional act of Mr. Governor. It is illegal, undemocratic, violation of rule of law and contempt of a subsisting court injunction against any dissolution of the Local Government as ordered by Justice A.A. Aderemi of High Court 2, Ibadan, Oyo State, on May 6, 2019.”
Aleshinloye also described the governor’s action as a “crude breach of the right of our people to be democratically governed at local government level as the third tier of government as copiously stated in section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution as amended.”
The ALGON Chairman appealed to all duly elected Chairmen of Local Government and Local Council Development Areas, Councilors and citizens in the state to remain calm and be peaceful, adding that the Chairmen will “seek all democratic, constitution.
Aleshinloye appealed to the Commissioner of Police, Director of State Security Service and other security operatives to be at alert and provide full security protection for all Chairmen and council secretariats as a pre-emptive measure to forestall any possible attacks, vandalism and threat to peace in the state.
Speaking in the same vein, Oyo ALGON’s lawyer, Barrister Kunle Sobaloju, said the action of the governor was null and void because there is a valid court judgment that has not been vacated, adding that until they challenge the judgment, the dissolution order is of no consequence.
His words: “An act done in violation of the constitution is null and void, you don’t flout a court order by an act of disobedience.
“The proper thing the governor should have done is to assemble his team of lawyers, study the judgment and challenge it in court. You cannot dissolve elected Local Government Chairmen by way of disobedience.”
Sobaloju vowed to resist by lawful means any one that tries to stop the Chairmen and Councillors from performing their constitutional roles.
The move of the governor has also not gone down well with the state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The state Chairman of the party, Chief Akin Oke, described the dissolution of the Local Government Councils in the state by Gov. Seyi Makinde as dictatorial.
Oke said in a telephone interview with newsmen that the action was “military-like”, saying that he was shocked by the development.
“My party, the APC will react officially soon, but I will speak to you as an individual for now.
“We are not in the military era, in the first instance, here is a man who swore to defend the Constitution, few hours later, acting with impunity, acting in military style dissolving democratic institutions like Local Government Councils.
“The House of Assembly has not been constituted and even the so called chief of staff who signed the statement on behalf of the governor has not been sworn-in.
“This development is a very bad signal, very bad signal for good people, with this administration, we are in for problems, real problems in the state, “ he said.
Samson Oyedeyi
