Tag: Makinde

The Accountant General (AG) of Oyo state, Mrs. K. O. Adegoke has faulted the claim by Governor Seyi Makinde that his state cannot pay the N3,374,889,425.60 debt owed to former local government chairmen and councilors whom he sacked on assuming office on May 29, 2019.

Adegoke’s position is contained in a fresh document filed by one of the state’s bankers before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in a garnishee proceeding initiated by the ex-council chiefs.

The garnishee proceeding was initiated against Makinde, Oyo state, and others, following a December 8 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, ordering the governor to pay the debt, which now stands at N3,425,300,000.

In the court document, the Oyo AG revealed that there were sufficient funds in the state’s account with First Bank of Nigeria Limited and that the bank has been directed to set aside the N3,425,300,000 for the settlement of the outstanding judgment debt.

The Supreme Court had, in a judgment on May 7, 2021, declared Makinde’s sack of the council officials, before the end of their three-year tenure, as unlawful; and ordered him to pay them the salaries and allowances they ought to have earned for the tenure, which the Oyo State Government later estimated at N4,874,889,425.60.

The governor authorized the payment N1.5billion in 2022, leaving an outstanding sum of N3,374,889,425.60 (about N3.4 billion), in respect of which he later applied to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), via a motion filed on April 3, 2023 praying to be allowed to pay the outstanding debt in instalment of N300m every six months, a request Justice Anote Ebong rejected.

Makinde had, in the motion, claimed among others, that Oyo State has no resources to pay the judgment debt and that the state would be unable to meet its obligations should the debt be paid in a manner different from what he proposed.

In rejecting Makinde’s proposal, Justice Ebong, in a ruling on April 27, 2023, though, granted Makinde’s request to pay in installments, varied his payment plan, because, if allowed to pay the way he proposed, it would take the state six years to fully defray the debt, long after his tenure.

Justice Ebong ordered one of Oyo State’s bankers, First Bank of Nigeria, to immediately pay the ex-council chiefs N1,374,889,425.60 and directed Makinde to pay the remaining balance of N2billion in installment of N500 million every six months, with the first installment payable on July 31, 2023.

Makinde appealed Justice Ebong’s decision at the Court of Appeal in Abuja and repeated his claim that his state was broke and would be unable to meet its obligations should it comply with the order by the High Court of the FCT.

In a judgement on December 8, 2023, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed Makinde’s appeal; ordered him to comply with Justice Ebong’s order and awarded N50million cost against him.

Armed with the December 8 judgment of the Court of Appeal, the ex-council chiefs led by Bashorun Mojeed Bosun Ajuwon, went back to Justice Ebong’s court for an order attaching Oyo State Government’s accounts in 10 banks in a fresh garnishee proceeding.

It is in response to the court’s order for the banks to show cause why the garnishee order nisi should not be made absolute against them that one of the banks tendered the letter by the Oyo State Accountant General.

In the letter, Mrs. Adegoke said: “We wish to inform you that First Bank of Nigeria Ltd has already set aside the sum of N3,425,300,000.00 on Oyo State Joint Local Government Allocation Account,” in respect of the garnishee order by Justice Ebong.

First Bank, in its response to the garnishee order, confirmed that it had sufficient funds in Oyo State’s account to cover the judgment debt.

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It added: “Oyo State has an account with the bank with funds sufficient to cover the judgment sum of N2,050,300,000.00.”

At the resumed hearing in the garnishee proceedings on January 5 Makinde’s lawyer, Alfred Akinjo-Nelson told the court that his client was unhappy with the Court of Appeal decision and has appealed to the Supreme Court.

When asked by Justice Ebong what his client’s grievance was with the judgment debt, Akinjo-Nelson said Makinde and the other judgment debtors were not contesting the judgment debt but were uncomfortable with the mode of payment ordered by Justice Ebong.

Akinjo-Nelson also faulted the suggestion by a lawyer to Access Bank Plc, one of Oyo State’s bankers, Solomon Umoh (SAN) that other banks affected by the garnishee order nisi should be excused given the revelation that sufficient funds have been reserved with First Bank to defray the judgment debt.

Although lawyer to the judgment creditors (the ex-council chiefs), Musibau Adetunbi (SAN) agreed that the other nine garnishee banks be excused, except First Bank, Akinjo-Nelson argued otherwise.

Akinjo-Nelson sought time to respond to some applications filed by the judgment creditors, including one in which they are seeking to play a recording of an alleged media chat by Makinde, where he was said to have commented on decisions by the various courts on the case.

Justice Ebong has adjourned till January 18 for the hearing of pending applications and possibly continuation of the garnishee proceedings.

No fewer than 33 inmates from various Nigerian Correctional Centres in Oyo state have been granted clemency.

Ten of these inmates were released from custodial centres, while four individuals who were on death row have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

Also, 15 inmates had their sentences reduced and four others were granted conditional release under a clemency order signed by the governor on Thursday, January 4.

Commending the development, the state Controller of Corrections; Salami Olubamiji (CC) said Governor Makinde’s seasonal gesture provides forgiveness and hope to dozens of incarcerated individuals across the state.

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He said: “This effort will go a long way to boost the morale of all the inmates and encourage them to involve themselves in various vocational and academic training programs provided in the facilities to rebuild their lives.

“Among the main components of the governor’s signed release order: ten inmates were immediately freed from custody this holiday season.

“Four inmates on death row have their sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

“Fifteen individuals currently serving term, received reductions in their term of incarceration.

“Four students progressing towards degrees at the National Open University in custodial centres approved for release upon graduation.”

He said the Nigerian Correctional custodial facilities in Oyo state house over 1,800 inmates in facilities located in Ogbomoso, Ibadan and Oyo Town, adding that the facilities provide substantive rehabilitation and skills-building programs daily so that restored citizens can contribute to society. 

He added that officials of the Correctional Service are processing the required paperwork to begin discharging the approved inmates immediately.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has unveiled a book on shared Yoruba kinship and community-based values. The book was authored by Prof. Olufemi Vaughan, currently the Alfred Sargent Lee ’41, and Mary Ames Lee Professor of African Studies at Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.

The launching of the book entitled “Letters, Kinship And Social Mobility in Nigeria”, was held at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan (U.I). The book is a trove of more than 3,000 letters compiled in 80 years and received by the author from his late father, Abiodun Alfred Vaughan, in 2003.

Speaking as the chairman of the book launch,  Makinde underscored the importance of shared Yoruba kinship values and education as critical messages of the major letter writers in the book. He called on the people of Oyo State and Nigeria to engage important community-based values derived from the past to help change and transform contemporary conditions.

The governor also stressed the importance of keeping good records from the past to assist in understanding current social, political, and economic conditions. He encouraged Nigerians in the Diaspora to lend support to the development and progress of Nigerian society.

Also speaking at the event, a renowned Nigerian historian Prof. Bolanle Awe, advocates the usage of letters and other archival materials in historical writings. Awe, who was the first female lecturer at the Department of History, University of Ibadan, and the first female academic staff in a Nigerian university, emphasised the importance of record-keeping culture and history for posterity.

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The book, “Letters, Kinship And Social Mobility”, was the first scholarly effort that critically engaged the medium of letter writing to explore the everyday experiences of Africans in the modern world. The letters, written by four generations of the Vaughan family in Ibadan, Nigeria between 1926 and 1994, were the comprehensive correspondences of some major writers that gave a deep insight into how to critically explore the evolution of modern Yoruba society within the context of the formation of the Nigerian State and society.

The stories constructed from the letters were also narratives about how modern African experiences evolved out of indigenous local structures, values, and ideas at a transformative moment in history.

Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, has unveiled a book on shared Yoruba kinship and community-based values.

The governor also called for the revival of community-based values as a means to transforming the contemporary society.

The book was authored by Prof. Olufemi Vaughan, currently the Alfred Sargent Lee ’41 and Mary Ames Lee Professor of African Studies at Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.

The launching of the book entitled “Letters, Kinship And Social Mobility in Nigeria”, held at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan (U.I).

The book is a trove of more than 3,000 letters compiled in a span of 80 years and received by the author from his late father, Abiodun Alfred Vaughan, in 2003.

Speaking as the chairman of the book launch, Makinde underscored the importance of shared Yoruba kinship values and education as critical messages of the major letter writers in the book.

He called on the people of Oyo State and Nigeria to engage important community-based values derived from past to help change and transform contemporary conditions.

The governor also stressed the importance of keeping good records from the past to assist in understanding current social, political, and economic conditions.

He encouraged Nigerians in the Diaspora to lend support to the development and progress of Nigerian society.

Also speaking at the event, a renowned Nigerian historian Prof. Bolanle Awe, advocates the usage of letters and other archival materials in historical writings.

Awe, who was first female lecturer at the Department of History, University of Ibadan and the first female academic staff in a Nigerian university, emphasised the importance of record keeping culture and history for posterity.

The book, “Letters, Kinship And Social Mobility”, was about the first scholarly effort that critically engaged the medium of letter writing to explore the everyday experiences of Africans in the modern world.

The letters, written by four generations of the Vaughan family in Ibadan, Nigeria between 1926 and 1994, were the comprehensive correspondences of some major writers that gave a deep insight on how to critically explore the evolution of modern Yoruba society within the context of the formation of the Nigerian State and society.

The stories constructed from the letters were also narratives about how modern African experiences evolved out of indigenous local structures, values and ideas at a transformative moment in history.

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The writers of the letters included Mariam Vaughan 1866-1972); Samuel Ariyibi Vaughan (1887-1985l; Dorcas Olayinka Brainerd (1894-1973); S. A. Oloko (1894-1984) and Rachel Ayodele Akinloye (1898-1993).

Others were Jadesola Juliana Odebunmi (1902-1996); Abiodun Alfred Vaughan (1907-2004); Bamidele Theo Brainerd (1916-2004); Adisa Meredith Augustus Akinloye (1918-2007); and Gladys Aduke Vaughan (1920-2014).

These writers, and many others mentioned in the book, as clerks, administrators, health officers, nurses, writers and students, laid the foundation of modern Yoruba society in Colonial Nigeria in the first half of the 20th Century.

The Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) on Monday celebrated Gov. Oluseyi Makinde of Oyo State on his 56th  birthday.

The forum Chairman, Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, celebrated Makinde in a statement issued by the forum Director-General, Cyril Maduabum, in Abuja on Monday.

Mohammed said that the forum celebrated Makinde’s sterling performance in office as Governor of Oyo State in over four years.

This, according to him, was evident in life impacting projects in infrastructure, education, agriculture, healthcare service delivery, power generation, SME funding, security and safety – a wholesome transformation strategy for generational change.

“This progress is also being felt in the reorganised solid mineral sector, aviation sector upgrade, improved civil service welfare, transportation, culture and tourism, road networking and urban renewal, trade and investment drive, youth and women empowerment, among others.

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“We are proud to say that the state’s economy has recorded a remarkable leap.

“The forum acknowledges his numerous contributions to the growth of our Forum and his nationalistic approach to governance,’’ Mohammed said.

He said that the forum celebrated Makinde’s valuable contributions in his capacity as vice-chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and to the growth of the nation.

Mohammed prayed for more divine guidance for Makinde generally in the line of service.

He assured Makinde of the forum’s unalloyed support as he presides over the affairs of his state.

(NAN)