LG Crisis: Malami’s Action Selective, Says Oyo AG

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Oyo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Professor Oyelowo Oyewo, yesterday stated that the intervention of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, on the dissolution of local government leadership in Oyo State was selective and as a result of lack of proper briefing.

Oyewo, who stated this while appearing on a Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily, maintained that the AGF was not properly briefed on the local government situation in Oyo State.

According to him, the dissolved council chairmen were not properly constituted, having emerged from an election that was held in disobedience to an existing court order.

He said: “If he (AGF) were to be aware of the fact that the matter was subjudice, probably he would not have taken such wanton, liberal interpretation of his powers. His powers are guided by law, by the Constitution of the land and as interpreted by the court.”

Oyewo, a professor of Law and former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, added that the AGF lacked the power at large to enforce judgment without going through the process of the enforcement of judgment in compliance with the rules of the court that gave the judgment.

He added that Malami’s actions were partisan and not based on the Constitution, noting that though many APC-controlled states were operating caretaker committees and had dissolved elected local government leadership, policemen have not been sent to enforce “anybody’s rights as it were.”

Oyewo stated that though his office was not served with the AGF’s later dated January 14, 2020 and that the letter only came to its notice on January 22, 2020, due to the seriousness of the letter, it penned a rejoinder to the AGF in which it made the following facts clear.

“One; there is no such Supreme Court judgment against Oyo State. Two, the Attorney General of the Federation does not have power, at large, to be enforcing judgment without going through the process of enforcement of the judgment in compliance with the rules of the court that gave the judgment.”

“As if that was not alarming enough, a letter was written through the Inspector General of Police giving a direction that was supposed to be given to the chairman of APC in Oyo State and the chairman of ALGON to, as it was, reinstate local government and LCDA chairmen who have a matter in court against the Oyo State government. And the matter at that time was, and still is, at the court of Appeal.

“We wrote this to bring to the attention of the Inspector General of Police and, at the same time, we took steps before the proper forum for it to be decided, which is before the court, and that seemed to have untamed the ravaging effort of the Police and the people that they were trying to use.

“As you have heard, there was violence and all that, but carefully an ex parte order was granted against any further action of such parties without any court order that is emanating to give priority to the AGF or the Inspector General of Police to take those actions.”