After close to two years moving from the High Court to the Appeal Court, the Supreme Court Friday morning laid to rest the issue of the sacking of council chairmen and councilors by Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State.
The apex court said that Makinde was wrong to have removed them.
However the court judgement has not been made public, but rather than asking them to return to their respective council areas, the court asked Makinde to pay all the council chairmen and councillors their salaries and allowances before August 2021.
It also awarded N20 million cost against Makinde
With the judgement, the council election fixed for May 22, 2021, can now go ahead.
The major opposition party, APC, whose members went to court to challenge their sacking, would, however, not be participating.
Meanwhile, it’s as not been ascertained if LCDA Chairmen and Councilors would also be payed off.
Recall that Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde had sacked all elected Council chairmen and executives shortly after he was sworn in on May 29, 2019, despite a court judgement by an Oyo State High Court restraining the governor of the state, the state House of Assembly and agents of government from sacking the them.
But the government under Makinde approached the Court of Appeal and sought to quash the order, telling the court that the injunction was speculative because he had not been sworn-in as governor when it was obtained.
In a unanimous judgement of the Court of Appeal, read by Justice Simon Haruna Tsammani, supported by Justices Olujinmi Bada and Afolashade Ayodeji, the judgement of the lower court was set aside on the grounds that it was speculative and premature at the time it was obtained because the incumbent administration had not come to power then.
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