Olamijuwon Alao-Akala, the son of a former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, has rejected his suspension as the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government Council.
Mr Bimbo Kolade, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, had on Wednesday in Ibadan announced the suspension and his replacement by his deputy, Mr Abas Bello.
The council boss, who was elected on May 12 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently defected to the Action Democratic Party(ADP) in support of his father who is the party’s governorship candidate.
Kolade said that his ministry had on Monday received official correspondences from the legislative arm of the council announcing the suspension of the younger Alao-Akala.
The commissioner said that the councillors had suspended the chairman for alleged misconduct and abuse of office. “Apart from Alao-Akala who was suspended, four other councillors from the same local government are also suspended.
“Among them are Mr Olawunmi Olutayo, Adeniyi Adekunle , Oladele Sunday and Alagbe Ayodunmade. “Other councillors that were suspended from Ogbomoso Central Local Council Development Area are Akande Ranti, Olabode Abiola, Salaudeen Muhammed and Muhammed Yusuf,” he said.
He also presented a letter of authority to Bello, urging him to discharge his duties according to the rules. But the younger Alao-Akala described his suspension as a “kangaroo decision” which would not succeed, saying he remained the executive chairman of the council.
He said that the councilors, who claimed to have suspended him, were councillors-elect who were yet to be inaugurated since their election. “I remain the executive chairman of the local government. This is because the suspension is a kangaroo one with no blessing of the state governor.
“I know the governor is a democrat and will never sanction such unconstitutional move. Let me give you some instances why it is so. “We got elected last May 13, and since then, the councillors had not been inaugurated.
They have never sat collectively before as the legislative arm. It has never happened. “Secondly, I have eight councillors in my local government, so to form a quorum, they need six councillors plus the leader to make it nine.
“But in this situation, four councillors sat in a kangaroo manner and said they suspended me without informing me,’’ he said. He urged the councilors to present the minutes of their sittings and records of their election as officers.
“It is a kangaroo set up by those who are yet to recover from my defection to my father’s party, ADP. Their claim cannot hold water and I am an elected chairman by law,” he said.
Also speaking on the development, Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin, the African Democratic Congress governorship candidate in the state, faulted the suspension. Lanlehin in a release signed by the Director- General of Handshake Campaign Organisation, Bashiru Lawal, said the action was undemocratic.
“Irrespective of our political party differences, we want to identify with Olamijuwon on this illegality being perpetrated by the ruling APC and the governor of the state, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi,” he said.