As Oyo State continues to work towards having a sustainable economy capable of survival without the monthly allocation from the Federal Government, the unconstitutional action of the Seyi Makinde led administration is set to cost the state almost N4 billion.
It all started in the evening of May 29, 2019, when Mr. Bisi Ilaka, the newly appointed Chief of staff to the governor, in his first official statement, announced that his principal has ordered the dissolution of “all local Government authorities, Local Council Development Authorities” and the sack of all local government chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors with immediate effect.
This action was met with mixed reactions from residents of the state, including the unlawfully sacked Council officials who described it as unwise from a government barely struggling to find its feet.
Amid strong opposition, on the 16th of December, the Debo Ogundoyin led House of Assembly announced the list of new council officials nominated by the governor and wrongly began the process to screen them into office.
Over a year after the legal tussle began, Nigeria’s apex court on the 7th of May ruled that the removal of the council officials was unconstitutional and compared the governor’s action to executive illegality.
But since the tenure of the wrongly removed officials had lapsed, the court could not reinstate them, instead it ordered the governor to pay all salaries and allowances due to them during the period they were unjustly removed. The court also fined the governor N20 million for his actions.
According to the data from salaryscale.com, each of the 68 chairmen is entitled to N3,181,611 salaries and allowances per annum, while each vice chairman is entitled to N2,803,392 in salaries and allowances. Each of the councillors is entitled to N2.4 million per annum. This does not cover severance package.
A rough estimate of the debt, which the apex court ordered the governor to pay by August, shows that while chairmen will rake in an average of N432.6 million, while vice-chairmen will receive N381.2 million. The over 600 councillors will receive N2.9billion, bringing it to an estimated N3.7billion.
What this ruling indicates is that the state will lose 3.7 billion, an equivalent of almost 1.4 percent of the entire 2021 due to the governor’s illegal action.
This amount is also equivalent to about 39 percent of the budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector in 2021, and almost two times the average monthly Internally generated revenue in the state for two months in 2020.
The chairman of ALGON in the state, Abass Aleshinloye, said the Supreme Court judgment had confirmed the association’s position that Makinde lacks respect for rule of law.
He however expressed concerns that the governor’s recklessness will cost the state hugely.
Further analysis by OYOINSIGHT.COM, indicated that the caretaker council officials wrongly appointed by the governor were paid billions of naira for occupying executive positions illegally during the period of their stay in office.
Since the ruling by the Supreme court, the governor and his aides have unusually kept mum.
