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 Progressives Congress APC led Chairmen across the 33 local government areas LGAs and 35 local council development areas LCDAs in the state.
The election that brought the chairmen held in 2018 at the twilight of the second term tenure of late former governor, Sen. 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 salaries 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.
