The Ondo State Government has denied the allegations that it has created non-existent kingdoms and disregarded court orders in the installation of monarchs in some communities in the state.

Also, the State Government said it has begun implementing local government autonomy in phases, in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement.

The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Amidu Takuro, told reporters on Monday that all steps taken in relation to chieftaincy and kingdom matters by the state government conform with court pronouncements.

Speaking with reporters after an inspection tour of the 18 Local Governments in the state, Takuro said the government has been taking cognisance of court orders before installing monarchs and recognising Kingdoms.

‎Flanked by the Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Dr Donald Fasua, the Commissioner said the government has not disobeyed a court order in the installation of Olusupare of Supare in Akoko Southwest Local Government.

Takuro said: “Mr Governor is an apostle of due process. We always work in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What happened in Supare Akoko was that, yes, there were issues. When they did their selection, to the best of our knowledge, no rancor, no crisis. And after the selection, out of the three people that went for that process, one got five votes. The other got four votes. The third person got zero. And it was after the selection that somebody came out that he was being disenfranchised, that he was supposed to be part of that process.

“It is a family that will present their candidate to the kingmakers. This person, according to the report, withdrew from that race within the family that is no longer contesting that position. So after that, he said he went to court to stop the process. They got an interim injunction. You all know what an interim injunction is all about. It lasts for 14 days. And we waited for almost two years.

“We did not do anything until after the interim injunction lapsed. So the other side now brought the demand that nothing stop them from being installed according to the law of the land. Because the injunction they granted was interim. It was not an interlocutory injunction that can restrain the government from installing them. And when we look at this here, that community already is having a crisis because of a lack of leadership.

“When we look at it, nothing is stopping the government as far as the law is concerned. Our legal team looks into it and declares it. Look, nothing stopped the community from having their monarch. So there was nowhere where we violated the court order. If there is an order today, we will never go further.

“‎Coming to the issue of Irun-Akoko, we are not creating any non-existing kingdom. Let me also tell you that it is only the state executive council that has the right to create and to pronounce a kingdom according to the chief law of the state.

“What happened in Irun-Akoko, now Oke-Oro complies with the court directive. It was a court that pronounced that that place should now be called Oke-Oro. And Ondo State now complied with the directive of the court.”

Speaking on the projects being implemented by the Local Government Chairmen, Takuro said the Governor has directed the alignment of their vision with that of the state government for the benefit of the people.

‎He said all ongoing and completed projects by all the 18 local governments are based on the requests of individual communities.

He explained that in avoidance of irrelevant projects, each council chairman had been informed to ensure residents of communities present their priorities before embarking on any projects in such communities.

Takuro disclosed that he and his inspection team were impressed by the magnitude and importance of projects implemented in different communities. Among projects implemented by the local councils were renovation and construction of markets and shopping malls, provision of street lamps and water supply to the communities.

In Ilaje, where students seeking admission into higher institutions of learning had to travel several kilometres to where they could get Centre Based Test to write University Matriculation Examination (UME), the local government has built an Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre in the town with close to 300 capacity.

The council equipped the centre with computers and other necessary facilities to save the applicants the stress of travelling far distances to write examinations.

Speaking on other efforts of the local government chairmen in stamping out poverty in their individual council areas, the Commissioner disclosed that 300 aged persons in each local government receive N20,000 per month.

Takuro disclosed that they are encouraging youths to go into farming, including poultry, fisheries, tomato growing, among others.

Please follow and like us: