‘Sacked’ Council bosses under the aegis of the Association of Local Government Officials, ALGON, are still the democratically elected Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State.
This was stated in a letter to Oyo State House of Assembly, and the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State signed by Barrister I. B. Olayinka on behalf of ALGON’s legal representative, Kunle Sobaloju & Co.
He maintained that it would be absurd and illegal to rely on the unlawful dissolution of the Local Government Council by the Governor or the judgment of the court of appeal that has nothing to do with the unlawful dissolution made by the Governor and did not validate the unlawful dissolution of the council by the Governor
The letter read in part: “We are Solicitors to all the Local Government Chairmen and Councillors in Oyo State hereinafter referred to as our clients.
“Our clients were elected on 12th May, 2018 for a 3 year term as Chairmen and Executive Officers of Local Government Councils and Local Council Development Areas by an election conducted by the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) and their tenure will lapse in May, 2021.
“Our clients just brought to our notice your resolution and directive that all properties of the Oyo State Government in possession of the democratically elected local government chairmen in Oyo State be returned in view of the judgment of the court of appeal delivered on 15th July, 2020 in the above stated suit.
“We believe the resolution and directive is based on the misconstruction of the purport of the said judgment, this is more pronounced when we look at the opening paragraph of the resolution which states that the court of appeal affirmed the unlawful sack of the chairmen by the Governor of Oyo State.
“You will recall that suit I/347/2019 which culminated in the above appeal was decided on 6th May, 2019 before the current administration came to be while the directives of the Governor sacking the local government chairmen was made on 29th May, 2019 after the judgment had been delivered. Thus the suit had nothing whatsoever to do with the unlawful removal of the local government chairmen made on 29th May, 2019.
“The appeal filed by the Oyo State Government against the judgment of the Oyo State High Court which restrained the Governor from removing democratically elected chairmen and which the court of appeal by its judgment only allowed the appeal on the ground that our clients’ case was speculative and the high court lacked jurisdiction to have entertained the case. The court of appeal never upheld, ratified or declared the dissolution of the councils (which was done after the judgment of the high court which was subject of the appeal) as legal, valid or lawful.
“It is pertinent to reiterate that since our clients are the democratically elected Local Government Chairmen of the councils and their election have not been nullified by any competent court of law or tribunal and their tenure has not lapsed, any purported dissolution of the councils by the Governor would be unlawful as the supreme Court in the case of GOVERNOR FAYEMI & ORS v. OLUBUNMO & 13 ORS (APPEAL NO: SC. 120/2013) has unequivocally stated that the Governor of a state lacks the power to dissolve democratically elected Local Government Chairmen.
“We wish to state that in the eyes of the law our clients are still the democratically elected Local Government Chairmen, it would be absurd and illegal to rely on the unlawful dissolution of the Local Government Council by the Governor or the judgment of the court of appeal that has nothing to do with the unlawful dissolution made by the Governor and did not validate the unlawful dissolution of the council by the Governor to direct our clients to surrender the attachments to their office.
“We therefore humbly advise you and other members of the House of Assembly to apply for the judgment of the court appeal, digest it thoroughly so as to avoid running afoul of the law.”
