ABEOKUTA – The Principal Counsel to the 75 Coronet Obas challenging the purported revocation of their appointment as Coronet Obas by the Ogun State Government, Otunba Olumide Oniyire has accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of acting against the court decision.
THE ENCOUNTER NEWS reports that, the Ogun state government in May 2019 appointed 75 coronet wearing Obas for several towns and villages by Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration.
But in February 2020, administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun purportedly revoked the appointment of the coronet Obas.
The aggrieved monarchs approached the Ogun State High Court to challenge the revocation.
However, Justice Abiodun Akinyemi of the Ogun State High Court on November 29, 2021 reversed the revocation, declaring their demotion by Governor Abiodun as unlawful, null and void.
Barrister Oniyire told journalists on Friday that, the state government lodged an appeal against the High Court judgement at the Court of Appeal and applied for stay of execution.
The legal luminary explained that the Stay of Execution was dismissed, saying that the state government failed to compile and transmit record of appeal to the Court of Appeal thereby unnecessarily delaying the hearing of the appeal.
Barrister Oniyire described the refusal of the governor to obey the court judgment as an act of lawlessness.
He said, “Regrettably, the State Government has not obeyed the court judgment till date. The Ogun State Government lodged an appeal against the judgment obtained against it to the Court of Appeal and applied for a Stay of Execution of the said Judgment.
“The application for Stay of Execution was dismissed and the Appellants has till date not compiled and transmitted record of appeal to the Court of Appeal thus unnecessarily delaying the hearing of her own appeal.
“The upshot of the foregoing premise is that the Ogun State Government has been delinquent in its conduct with regards to its lack of observance and denigration of democratic tenets of the Rule of Law, particularly, the concepts of Supremacy of the Law and Equality of all persons and Authority before the Law, thus, rendering the Courts in particular, a victim of the Ogun State Government’s egregious and reckless conduct as the Government of Ogun State continues unabatedly to defecate on the face of a subsisting court judgment.
“It is simply the height of Government indiscipline, lawlessness and unprecedented desecration of the temple of justice to refuse to obey a court judgment.
“Some of the Coronets numbering at least five (5) Coronets have died in the course of the struggle for enforcement of rights and benefits associated to their appointments as Coronets but the Ogun State Government has remained highly insensitive, and insensate to the plight of the Coronets who are Judgment Creditors having regards to the Ogun State High Court Judgment.
“Clearly, no much progress can be attained in any society where there is disobedience to the tenets of the Rule of Law and disregard to Court Judgments.
“It is therefore expected that the Ogun state Government will atone and respect the judgment of court pending judgment on appeal. It is never too late for corrections to be made.”
He, however, commended the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi for recognizing and installing one of the coronet Obas, Oba Hassan Bayoruwa Oye-Bello as Alatoyo of Atoyo in Sagamu local government area of Ogun State .
“We must however give special thanks to the current Chairman of the Ogun State Council of Obas, Oba (Dr.) Babatunde Adewale Ajayi (Torungbuwa II), LL.B, LL.M, FCA, FBR, CFR, the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remo land who recently recognized and installed Oba Hassan Bayoruwa Ishola Oye-Bello, one of the Coronets who gave evidence at the Lower Court as the Alatoyo of Atoyo in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State.”
Barister Oniyire called on other paramount rulers in the state to emulate the Akarigbo of Remoland by installing the coronet Obas in their domains.
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