Makinde Seeks Review Of Supreme Court’s Judgment To Pay Sacked LG Officials

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has sought a review of a judgment of the Supreme Court to pay the salaries and allowances of local government chairmen and councillors he sacked upon assuming office on May 29, 2019.

Makinde, in a fresh motion and notice of appeal before the Appeal Court, Abuja, urged the court to reverse the order.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the government filed the applications along with the Oyo State Attorney General and five others.

In both fillings, Makinde and other applicants want the appellate court, to among others, reverse the orders of  April 27 made by Justice A. O. Ebong of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in furtherance of the Supreme Court judgment given on May 7, 2021, in the appeal marked: SC.CV/556/2021.

NAN reports that the ex-LG officials, led by Bashorun Mojeed Ajuwan, had successfully challenged their sacked-up to the Supreme Court.

The apex court had, on May 7, 2021, in a judgment, declared Makinde’s sack of the council officials less than 19 months into their three-year tenure, as unlawful.

In the judgment, the Supreme Court ordered that  the salaries and allowances that “they ( the sacked LG officials) were each entitled to, be paid for the balance of the period from 29th May 2019 (when Makinde sacked them) ending on 11th May 2032 when the respective tenures they were elected for would end.”

The apex court added that the 1st defendant/respondent (Makinde) “shall forthwith, pay the said salaries and allowances of the claimants/appellants as ordered.”

For his unlawful act, the apex court awarded N20 million cost against Makinde, in favour of the sacked LG officials.

It further ordered the state’s AG to file, “on or before 7th August 2021 an affidavit (under the hand of the incumbent of the office) attesting to the payment of the said salaries and allowances” as ordered by the court in its judgment.

Reacting to Makinde’s fresh motion and notice of appeal, Ajuwon and other sacked LG officials accused the governor of a ploy to undermine the Supreme Court judgment.

They claimed that Makinde’s decision to approach to Appeal Court was aimed at sustaining his alleged vow not to comply with the apex court judgment, except for the sacked LG officials, who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) decamp to his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Makinde had, following the Supreme Court judgment, agreed to pay the unlawfully sacked LG officials a total of N4,874,889,425.60 (about N4.9 billion), out of which it paid only N1.5 million in 2022, leaving N3,374,889,425.60 (about N3.4 billion) outstanding.

Instead of paying the outstanding judgment debt of N3.4b, he applied to the High Court of the FCT, in a motion he filed on April 3 praying to be allowed to pay the outstanding judgment debt in instalments of N300m every six months, a proposal Ajuwon and the other judgment creditors objected to.

However,  in a ruling on April 27, Justice Ebong granted Makinde’s prayer to pay in instalments, but varied his payment plan, on the grounds that, if allowed to pay the way he proposed, it would take him six years to fully defray the debt.

Justice Ebong said: “That does not appear reasonable to me given the current Nigerian economic situation, characterised by dwindling resources and high inflation.

“There is every reason to believe that the value of the judgment debt would be substantially lost to inflation if left to be paid over a six-year period as proposed by the applicants (Makinde, the AG, and other officials of the state).

“To compound the unfairness of the proposed terms, the applicants (Makinde and others) have not explained to this court why they moved away from their commitment in Exhibit BOS1 to pay off the outstanding judgment sum within six months from 23rd December 2021.”

Justice Ebong proceeded to order one of Oyo State’s bankers, First Bank of Nigeria, to immediately pay Ajuwon and others N1,374,889,425.60 (about N1.4 billion) and to pay the remaining balance of N2 billion in instalments of N500 million every six months, with the first instalment payable on July 31, 2023.

It is this ruling that Makinde has appealed against and applied to stayed in a notice of appeal and motion on notice filed recently before the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

In the motion, he is praying the appellate court to among others, stay the execution of the judgment pending the determination of the appeal.