The Chairman of Oyo State Chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye has said he will never again contest for the position of local government chairman.
Aleshinloye was the Chairman of Oluyole local government of Oyo State before the sack of the council bosses by Governor Seyi Makinde on May 29, 2019.
The ensuing legal tussle over the sack lasted about two years and ended in favour of the All Progressive Congress led Chairmen across the 33 local government and 35 local council development areas in the state.
The election that brought the chairmen in held in 2018 at the twilight of the second term tenure of late Ex-Governor Abiola Ajimobi.
Explaining the rationale behind his struggles to ensure that the matter was settled legally, Aleshinloye said himself and his colleagues were more particular about the development of democracy at the grassroot.
He added that the lesson from the legal tussle is to caution politicians especially Executive governors not to undermine the country’s rule of law and democracy.
He lamented that although the judgement went in favour of the illegally sacked chairmen, the state as a whole would be the one to bear the brunt.
He said he would have preferred a situation whereby the court could have ruled that the payment of the salary and allowances of the illegally sacked chairmen and councilors be paid from the personal purse of the governor who pronounced the sack.
He said “The lesson to be learnt is for all those who don’t ordinarily believe in the rule of law and who don’t believe in democracy, because if you don’t believe in rule of law, you won’t believe in democracy.
He said “The lesson to be learnt is for all those who don’t ordinarily believe in the rule of law and who don’t believe in democracy, because if you don’t believe in rule of law, you won’t believe in democracy.
“The only issue is that Oyo State is going to be the main looser. The tax payer money is being affected. I would have loved a judgement in which the court will ask Governor Seyi Makinde to make the payment from his own personal pocket.
“It would have served as a lesson for all the governors who don’t believe in the rule of law, who just do so many things with impunity.
“For us, it was not about the money or the office, it is about the rule of law and I am saying it, I personally don’t ever have interest in contesting any local government elections again in my life.
“But the whole idea is for us to show that we want democracy to be entrenched at the grassroot and that is what we have done. We have laid a precedence and for generations to come, the sacrifice we have made will always be enjoyed by those who will occupy the office.”
