- Makinde’s Court Injunction is Kangaroo – ALGON Chair
From Bola Ogunlayi, Ibadan
Moved by the disturbing development in Oyo State Local governments, Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has visited the Inspector General of Police, IGP Adamu Mohammed in Abuja, declaring that his administration would not condone violence in Oyo State.
The Governor, who spoke to newsmen at the premises of the Force Headquarters, stated that he had briefed the IGP on the security situation in the state.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, noted that Governor Makinde declared that his administration “does not want chaos in Oyo State.”
He added that he would obey the judgment of the court once the pending appeals on the local government dissolution in the state are decided.
The Governor, who stated that as a law-abiding individual, he was ready to work with others to build a new country where the rule of law is supreme, urged everyone to be law-abiding and to ensure that they don’t do anything that would create lawlessness.
According to the Governor, he was in Abuja to meet Abubakar to discuss the issue of local government dissolution crisis in Oyo State and the Western Nigerian Security Network, codenamed Amotekun.
Makinde maintained that the security network was in progress and that the South-West governors were already operationalizing it, adding that the governors would further meet with the IG to review the situation on the intervention.
The Governor said: “We are here basically to discuss two things. You all must have heard about the issue of local government administration in Oyo State.
“There is a court order yesterday restraining the IG, the CP, the AIG from giving unilateral order regarding the issue of local government administration in Oyo State.
“I came to brief the Inspector General that this is the situation, we do not want chaos in Oyo State. I personally, am law-abiding; if there is a court judgment, I would obey it and he has given me the assurance that once he gets the copy of the court order, he would do the needful.
“Secondly, everybody is aware of the issue with Amotekun; we deliberated on it and we had an agreement in principle to have the governors of the South-West meet with him to review the situation.
Amotekun is work in progress, we are trying to operationalise it and in doing that, all the relevant stakeholders would have to align.
“We are trying to build a new country where the rule of law is supreme, so everybody should be law-abiding, ensure that they don’t do anything that would create lawlessness.”
In a related development, the leader of the sacked chairmen of Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, Ayodeji Abass-Alesinloye has said no amount of intimidation would make them to rescind their decision to return to office.
His assertion was coming on the heels of threat and counter threats by the aggrieved Council Chairmen and Governor Seyi Makinde on the authentic authorities in charge of the Councils and Development areas.
The State government claimed it has obtained Court injunction stopping those his administration sacked from taking over in their former offices but the APC elected Council Chairmen said it was a ruse.
“The injunction that the state government is parading is a kangaroo injunction. They went to a state high court; they did not obtain the order from the Federal High Court. I don’t know why they are just behaving so illegally.
“Of course, all of us (the sacked chairmen), have access to our offices; we have been in our offices since yesterday. Throughout Oyo State we carried out our duties without hindrance, except in the Ibadan North and North-East. Those at the Egbeda Local Government Area were accosted on their way from the council secretariat,”Alesinloye added.
In a proactive attempt against crisis,the Council Chairmen who fulfilled their promise to resume against the Governor’s directive raised an alarm of clandestine move to use certain named thugs to attack them in their various offices.
The situation has led to the Chairman of the All Local Government Association of Nigeria(ALGON) ,Oyo State, Comrade Titilola Sodo asking all his members to sit at home to forestall breakdown of law and order.
The workers have since complied with this directive since Monday.
The ALGON led by Prince Alesinloye was backed by the Attorney General of the Federation through a letter authorising them to resume at their duty post, thereby declared action of the state Governor as illegal.
