Sacked Osun LG chairs, councillors to remain in office

The Osun State House of Assembly has said since the judgement nullifying the last October 15 local government elections in the state had been appealed, the elected officials should be allowed to continue in office.

The resolution was contained in a statement by the Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Assembly, Kunle Alabi obtained in Osogbo on Wednesday.

The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission had, through its Executive Secretary, Adedapo Adejumo, withdrawn Certificates of Return issued to the elected officials of LGAs and disclosed plan not to appeal judgement of an Osogbo Federal High Court that sacked them.

But the Assembly said it arrived at the resolution that the sacked Council officials should remain in office during a plenary when its Speaker, Timothy Owoeye, briefed members on the outcome of a private meeting held with the governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

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Owoeye, while briefing members of the Assembly on the outcome of the meeting with Adeleke, also stated that there was a mutual understanding that the House would henceforth be carried along on matters that concerns the legislature.

The statement partly read, “On the issue of LG administration, Owoeye informed the plenary of a notice of appeal against the decision of a Federal High Court judgment served on the 7th Assembly.

“The House thereby resolves that the issue of Local Government administration should be left to the court of law, ordering a status quo on all Local Government administration pending the exhaustion on all legal means.”

Quoting Owoeye while addressing his colleagues, the statement further read, “This is the Osun State House of Assembly, anything we are doing has to be to the development and progress of this state, we have not done anything wrong or foul of the law.

“As an institution, we x-ray and scan whatever we disseminate because as far as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is concerned, we are performing legislative duties and our functions as legislators.

“When Aregbesola took over the mantle of leadership in 2010, the PDP-controlled local government was still in place and the status quo remained. Nobody dissolved the local government until all legal processes were completed.”