The suspended caretaker, local government chairmen and local council development areas of Ondo State have headed to the Court of Appeal to challenge the order of the High Court suspending them from office.

The 18 local government chairmen and the 33 LCDA have filed before the Appeal Court “an order setting aside the two rulings in respect of the motions on notice for setting aside/discharging the ex-parte interim injunction and for interlocutory injunction delivered by Hon. Justice Yemi Fasanmi of the Ondo State High Court, Akure Division, on the 21st day of December 2023, in Suit No: AK/390/2023 between Peoples Democratic Party vs. Governor of Ondo State and three others.

“An order granting the appellants’ Motion on Notice filed on the 7th day of December 2023, to set aside/discharge the ex-parte order of interim injunction which the trial court granted against the appellants on the 30th day of November 2023.

“An order that the substantive suit be heard before a Judge of the Ondo State High Court other than Hon. Justice Yemi Fasanmi,” they prayed the court.

The counsel of the appellants, Banji Ayelakin, has written through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, informing the office of the appeal filed by his clients against the court order.

The letter addressed to the office of the Permanent Secretary reads: “We are solicitors to the Caretaker Committee of the Local Government Areas and the Local Council Development Area in Ondo State and on whose behalf the letter is caused to be written to you.

“Your letter dated 2nd of January 2024, with CMG/353/33, has been referred to us for our legal opinion, and we have the directive of our clients to crave your indulgence to certain misconceptions and erroneous conclusions in the letter.

“Your letter under reference stated that despite the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, our clients are still parading themselves as officers of their respective LGAs and LCDAs.

“You are unaware of the extant position of things and that your conclusion has been overtaken by events.

“The office of the Attorney General of Ondo State has appealed the judgment you referenced.

“The said office has filed an application for a stay of proceeding of the judgment as well as a stay of execution of the judgment,” they stated.

It will be recalled that an Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure, halted the inauguration of the 18 caretaker chairmen as well as the 33 chairmen of the newly created LCDAs.

The development led the state government to order all the caretaker chairmen to vacate their offices pending the outcome of the suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

The state government circular to all local councils reads: “It has come to the notice of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs that despite the suspension of all recently appointed Caretaker Committee members for Local Government and Local Council Development Areas in the state by a court of competent jurisdiction, some individuals in these former positions are still parading themselves in those posts.

“Consequently, I have been directed to request the Heads of Local Government Administration in all the LGAs/LCDAs to immediately assume responsibility as the head of their respective Local Government Areas/LCDAs in acting capacity pending the resolution of all legal matters relating to this subject.

“Furthermore, I have also been asked to request all HOLGAs to retrieve, without delay, all assets and properties of the LGAs/LCDAs with these former Caretaker Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, and other members and to safely keep them within their respective Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas.

“Kindly give the content of this letter the urgent attention it deserves, please,” the circular stated. (Nigerian Tribune)

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