The dissolution of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) by the state government has been criticized by the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ( ALGON) Oyo state chapter.
In a statement sent to journalists on Sunday, July 7 and signed by its chairman, Prince Abass Aleshinloye, ALGON said the dissolution was illegal, unconstitutional and arbitrary, adding that the commission has a statutory five-year tenure which ends in 2021.
Describing the action of Governor Seyi Makinde as yet another faulty and illegal step in the series of lawlessness and executive rascality the government of Oyo state is now known for, Aleshinloye said the governor’s statement that all the entitlement due to the members of the dissolved commission would be paid in order to absolve the state of any liability is “laughable and humiliating of the commission’s members.”
Further, he said: “We have become an endangered state with Governor Seyi Makinde’s unending assault on all that is legal and constitutional. We woke up to the announcement of the illegal and reckless act of dissolution of the statutory commissions in Oyo state this week by the governor. “In his ill-conceived attempt to avoid the self-inflicted liability occasioned by his lawless act, he made a promise of ‘naira rain’ to members of the illegally dissolved commissions as a ‘compensation’ to members of the bodies.
Not only is this laughable, humiliating of the distinguished members of these commissions who he has presented as if they are hungry for gain rather than to serve, it is also embarrassing and smacks of poor administrative judgement and disregard for all that is hallowed in any sane clime.”
Aleshinloye advised the governor against the planned monetization as, “illegalities cannot be monetized and commercialized,” adding that monetization of lawlessness does not cure its illegality. He described the action as corruption in its basest form, “morally reprehensible, unconstitutional and cannot stand the test of law.”
He wondered where the governor would source the money from and described the action as a further “plunder of our commonwealth” in a state he has described as bankrupt. Aleshinloye further said the governor would be incapable of demanding prudence and probity from workers if he was also laying bad examples. “If a worker is found collecting two or more person’s salary now, is it different from what Mr Governor is authorizing and doing now? We have had an administration reputed and branded as the, builder of modern Oyo state, but it seems Governor Makinde is gaining notoriety as the initiator of a lawless Oyo state
“It is our prayer that our people will not follow this example. When President Buhari assumed office in 2015, he worked with the INEC, FJSC,NJC, CBN and other commissions duly constituted till their tenures expired. We thought this introduced a new spirit into governance in Nigeria, but clearly our governor still lives in the unfortunate past,” he said. Aleshinloye called on ALGON members, secretaries, councillors and supervisors to ignore the directive to a committee set up earlier to probe the accounts of elected local government administration by the governor. He described the committee as another illegality that is unknown to the Nigerian constitution and an affront on subsisting court judgement. “We therefore join the good people of Oyo state to demand a reversal of such poor and reckless executive decision,” he concluded.
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