The Local government chairmen sacked from office on May 30, 2019 by Governor Seyi Makinde, Monday warned banks across Oyo state not to recognise or have any transaction with the newly inaugurated Local government caretaker committees in the state.
Specifically, the sacked Chairmen under the auspices of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in an open letter made available to Blueprint in Ibadan cautioned that banks, head of local government, other heads at the local government level should ignore the newly inaugurated caretaker committee members.
In the open letter signed by Oyo ALGON chairman, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, and the Secretary, Pastor Jesutoye Oluyinka, addressed to the chairmen, bankers, local government councils, Local Council Development Authority (LCDAs), heads of local government administration and staff, the sacked chairmen stated that the letter was to caution the banks and others “not to be complicit in the illegal actions because of the repercussions.”
“No bank, HLA/DAG/DFA can legally honour the signature of any caretaker chairman on any confirmations nor disregard our approving signatories as elected chairmen, otherwise such civil servant, staff, account officers, bank managers and their collaborators shall be liable for fraud on the revenue of state and criminal breach of trust,” it said.
Part of the letter reads, “We are compelled to openly issue this letter of caution to the purported Caretaker Chairmen, Bankers to all Oyo state Local Government Councils, LCDAs, Civil Servants in our dear State and all Local Government Staff across our Council Secretariats, to strongly avoid being put under duress by the Oyo State Government to partake in another man’s sin, by not allowing themselves to be used to further and foist what is clearly an illegal and fraudulent administration over our Local Government Councils and LCDAs in Oyo state.
“Over the past few months, we had consistently warned Oyo state government, and the governor of Oyo state to respect the rule of law and desist from toeing the path of illegality, and being railroaded by politicians who are hellbent on dividing our Local Government Councils and constituencies as their political fiefdoms and their spoils of war.
“It is no longer news that Governor Seyi Makinde has demonstrated no iota of respect for the rule of law and our courts, hence his serial breaches leading to an illegal appointment of an unlawful contraption called Caretaker Chairmen. We emphatically restate that there is no law in Oyo state creating a caretaker chairman’s office over any local government council and LCDAs, hence the recent purported appointments of caretakers is a flagrant display of irresponsibility, and mere jokes for public grandstanding with no force of law. It is therefore follows that any operation, directives, approvals, disbursements, decision or step taken by such usurpers occupying a nonexistent office can only be tantamount to an attempt to defraud the revenue of the Local Councils and LCDAs for which such persons and their collaborators shall be prosecuted.
“We expected the State Attorney General would have attempted to publicly rebut our emphatic position if it were legally rebuttable, but clearly rather than offer legal advice to guide the state, the learned professor seems to have outsourced his role as legal adviser to politicians who speak ignorantly on air about what they know nothing of. The management, administration and financing of Local Councils and LCDAs according to the constitution and the Supreme court in cases variously cited and now in the public domain, can only be validly approved, authorized, authenticated by documents executed by elected Local Government Chairmen. No authorisation from any caretaker chairman of any local government council or LCDA caretakers is recognised under the current legal regime in our country. Any civil servant, bank or local government staff that honours such illegal approvals, directives or authorisation from such persons therefore renders himself/herself liable to criminal prosecution for conspiracy and fraud.”
