The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan on Wednesday reserved judgement in a suit filed by the Oyo StateGovernment, challenging the judgement of an Oyo State High Court ordering the government not to dissolve the elected 33 Local Government and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) chairmen in the state.
Oyo State Government appealed against the judgement of the High Court delivered on May 6, 2019 by Justice Aderonke Aderemi.
Despite the judgement, Governor Seyi Makinde dissolved the 33 LG and 35 LCDA chairmen barely two hours after his inauguration on May 29, 2019.
The three-member panel of judges led by Justice Jimi Bada on Wednesday, reserved judgement in the matter after hearing arguments of the counsels.
Bada said judgment date would be communicated to the counsels.
Earlier in his argument, counsel to the Oyo State Government, Kunel Kalejaye (SAN) said the lower court has not jurisdiction to hear the case because it was premature as at the time the case was filed.
Kalejaye said the chairmen filed the suit at the lower court based on rumour that Makinde would dissolve the council executives after his swearing-in on May 29, 2019.
He said that the case was filed at the lower court and judgment obtained by the respondents before they were dissolved.
Kalejaye urged the court to dismiss the judgement of the lower court and uphold the appeal.
Butt counsel to the respondents, Yusuf Ali (SAN) said that the action cannot be termed immature because the law allows a person to approach the court when such person noticed that his right would been threatened.
Ali said the law always protect the right of any individual and only an irresponsible person would wait for his eye to be plucked after noticing that such thing was about to happen.
He urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgement of the lower court, to prevent such action from happening in future.
Newspeak
