The Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on Tuesday fixed 30th of July, 2019 for further hearing of a case filed by the Oyo State government challenging the legality of the sacked 33 local government chairmen and chairmen of the 35 Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in the state .
Governor Seyi Makinde of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had on May 29 dissolved the council chairmen shortly after he was sworn in.
Justice Ladiran Akintola, who was the presiding Judge of the case, said the new adjournment date was picked with the consent of the two counsel notwithstanding the annual vacation of the court and subject to the convenience of the court.
It would be recalled that Justice Aderonke Aderemi of the same State High Court had on May 6, 2019 ruled that governor Seyi Makinde did not have power under the law to sack elected local government chairmen .
Barrister Adeniyi Farinto, who is the lead counsel to the Oyo State government, told the court on Tuesday that the counsel to the Local Government chairmen had refused to take an application filed by the respondent.
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The counsel to the Oyo State chapter of the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), Barrister Kunle Sobaloju, said the charge was to commit the judgement respondent, (Governor Makinde) to prison for disobeying a valid and subsisting judgement of the court which had earlier pronounced that the governor did not have the power under the constitution to sack elected local government chairmen.
He noted that what the government did by dissolving the Local government chairmen was absolute disregard to the constitution because at the time the governor took the action, there was no notice of application against the judgement that favoured the local government bosses .
He added the judgement has not been appealed or set aside by the court.
He emphasised that whatever Governor Seyi Makinde did on May 29, against the judgement given by justice Aderonke Aderemi was null and void.
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