Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has succumbed to pressures over the use of the executive veto power in the appointment of Caretaker Chairmen for the 33 Local Government Areas and 35 Local Council Development Areas.
This is as he has presented letters of appointment to only the 54 nominees cleared by the State lawmakers.
The House of Assembly, which had screened and cleared 55 nominees last week, on Tuesday ordered the Divisional Police Officers in charge of Irepo LG, Asabari LCDA and Lagelu West LCDA to arrest anyone parading himself as chairman for those councils.
Earlier at the plenary of the house on Tuesday, one of the lawmakers, Hon. Gbenga Oyekola (Labour Party, Atiba State Constituency) supported by Hon. Olusegun Olaleye and Hon. Olawumi Oladeji drew the attention of its Speaker, Hon. Micheal Adeyemo to the inauguration of two rejected nominees Mudasir Agbaje (Irepo LG) and Taiwo Adeleke (Asabari LCDA) and substitution of Mr. Akeem Aransi for Mr. Abiodun Oladeji in Lagelu West LCDA, without informing the house, an action they said “rubbished” the house.
This made the House to warn the “appointees” in the three councils to stay clear.
At the presentation of the letters on Wednesday, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Bimbo Kolade who stood in for the governor, presented appointment letters to only 27 cleared Caretaker Chairmen in 27 LGAs and 27 cleared Chairmen in 27 LCDAs.
Kolade stated that the Executive arm was acting in consonance with the deliberations of the State House of Assembly, warning that any individual not given appointment letter should not parade himself as a caretaker chairman.
Kolade stated that the Executive arm was acting in consonance with the deliberations of the State House of Assembly, warning that any individual not given appointment letter should not parade himself as a caretaker chairman.
He noted that five LGAs and six LCDAs did not have any nomination due to the ongoing litigation in relation to council delineation and proposed conduct of council polls in the state.
“We want to put it on record that we have acted in accordance with the clearance we got from the House of Assembly.
“The Executive arm sent 57 names to the state House of Assembly for clearance. It consists of 28 names as Caretaker Chairmen for 28 local government areas and another 29 names for 29 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) recently created by the state. We have given caretaker chairmen of 27 LGAs and 27 LCDAs appointment letters.
“The Caretaker chairmen of Lagelu West LCDA, Asabari LCDA and Irepo LG were not given letters. Also, the four councils in Oyo, namely Oyo West, Oyo East, Atiba and Afijio, as well as Oriire LG in Ogbomoso zone were exempted as no nominee was presented due to the ongoing litigation in relation to council delineation and proposed conduct of council polls.
“The Caretaker chairmen of Lagelu West LCDA, Asabari LCDA and Irepo LG were not given letters. Also, the four councils in Oyo, namely Oyo West, Oyo East, Atiba and Afijio, as well as Oriire LG in Ogbomoso zone were exempted as no nominee was presented due to the ongoing litigation in relation to council delineation and proposed conduct of council polls.
“The same thing applied to the six newly created LCDAs in Oyo zone and Oriire Local government of the state”.