The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has cautioned the executive chairmen and career officers in all 33 local government councils across the state against allowing Governor Seyi Makinde to lead them into potential legal trouble.
The APC warned that if the council leaders do not distance themselves from Governor Makinde’s efforts to undermine the recent Supreme Court decision granting financial autonomy to local governments, they might face legal consequences.
The party’s publicity secretary, Olawale Sadare, accused Governor Makinde of a lack of respect for constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
The statement also accused the governor of having an excessive ambition to make Oyo State a separate republic from Nigeria to position himself as a figure to be worshipped.
The statement pointed out that Governor Makinde has emerged as the only state governor among the 36 states to criticize the Supreme Court’s verdict, describing it as a distraction.
Sadare said the governor also inaugurated a special committee to review the judgement and mandated members of the committee to come up with recommendations which would enable him to maintain the status quo as it concerns the joint account arrangement between states and local government councils.
The statement reads, “The whole world did not realize the magnitude of damage done to the third tier of government in Oyo state in the last 62 months until Gov. Makinde came out openly to castigate both the federal government and the Judiciary on the issue of financial autonomy.
“The governor has been fighting tooth and nail to promote an unpopular call for a reversal of the verdict which has been described, by most people, as a victory for the masses. Unfortunately for Gov. Makinde, his recent actions have confirmed the allegations bothering on the embezzlement of council funds being levelled against him by our Party (APC) and others.
“It is now crystal clear that the PDP governor had mapped out an 8-year plan aimed at looting LGA funds but got his dream truncated by the celebrated verdict of the Supreme Court. For the avoidance of doubt, the decision of the Apex Court remains sacrosanct even if he (Makinde) refused to agree to it.
“Meanwhile, Oyo state is a fraction of the nation called Nigeria and it is wrong for a governor to claim ‘sovereignty’ even as he depends on the federal government handouts and allocations to pilot the affairs of his state.
“On the final note, the reported withdrawal of the imposed 33 council chairmen from ALGON is just a smokescreen as we are aware of a script already handed to them by their principal.
“There is absolutely nothing Gov. Makinde can do to make him the recipient of the allocations due to 33 LGAs again and any chairman or career officer who compromises the provision of the law on account of blind loyalty or unfounded fear would pay for it as efforts are also in top gear to make the governor and other accomplices account for the trillions of naira already mismanaged at the expense of the LGAs.”