— Sets up data team to monitor projects in LGAs

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

AKURE — The Ondo State Government has defended the approval of Prince Adewale Fatunsi Richard as the new Olusupare of Supare-Akoko in Akoko South West Local Government Area, insisting that it did not violate any subsisting court order.

The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Amidu Takuro, said in Akure that the administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa was an “apostle of due process.”

The clarification followed allegations by counsel to one of the contestants, Prince Solomon Animasahun Adelakun, Barrister Tolu Babaleye, that the government ratified the appointment despite a subsisting interlocutory injunction restraining all parties.

Babaleye described the action as “a flagrant disobedience to a subsisting court order and a reckless affront to the sanctity of the Judiciary.”

But Takuro said the initial order obtained by the plaintiff was an interim injunction, which by law lasts 14 days.

“What happened in Supare-Akoko was that after the selection, to the best of our knowledge, there was no rancour, no crisis. Out of the three people that went for the contest, one got five votes, the other got four votes, and the third got zero,” he said.

He explained that the person now challenging the process had withdrawn from the family contest before the selection but later approached the court.

“We waited for almost two years. The interim injunction lapsed. The other side then brought the demand that nothing stopped them from being installed according to the law of the land. It was not an interlocutory injunction that could restrain government,” Takuro said.

The commissioner added that the community had been in crisis due to a lack of leadership and that the government’s legal team advised that nothing in law stopped the installation.

“If there is an order today, we will never go further. We will wait. There are still some litigations in some suits as of today.

“Take Ore, for example. People are yearning for an Oba, but because there is a stay of execution and the matter is at the Court of Appeal, we have not acted. That shows we are a law-abiding government,” he said.

On allegations that the state was creating new kingdoms, Takuro said the government only complied with a High Court judgment renaming Irun-Akoko to Oke-Oro.

“It was a court that pronounced that place as Oke-Oro, not Ondo State Government. The only thing we did was to comply with that directive. After two years, they went to another High Court instead of the Court of Appeal. That is not practicable in a sane society,” he stated.

Takuro, who had just concluded an inspection of projects across the 18 local government areas, said all councils scored a pass mark in terms of needs assessment and delivery of dividends of democracy.

He said the government had set up a data collation team to monitor seasonal projects and ensure proper execution, with priority given to policies that have a direct impact on grassroots communities.

“Mr Governor is confident that having a development plan will fast-track the much-required development of the land and the people.

“It is also part of our strategy to reduce rural-urban migration by providing basic amenities in those areas,” he added.