The local council chairmen sacked in Oyo State by Governor Seyi Makinde have said his reaction to the Supreme Court judgment on their unpaid allowances is “a clear deception and deliberate misinformation.”

The group of sacked chairmen and councillors led by its chairman, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, stated this in Ibadan on Wednesday while addressing journalists on the governor’s recent utterance on the matter.

Recall that Mr Makinde on Saturday claimed that the former local government chairmen and councillors were distracting his government.

Mr Abass-Aleshinloye said such should not be when their group lost 27 members to death in the last four years.

He said this was due to lack of money to take care of their health challenges, owing to non-payment of their entitlements.

“The court that ordered Makinde to pay our money is the Supreme Court of Nigeria and not any other court. So, his contention that he is going back to the Supreme Court is a clear deception and deliberate misinformation.

“The court gave its judgment on May 7 in 2021, a day on which it equally gave a similar judgment against the Governor of Katsina State. It suffices to say the latter has since complied with the judgment of the apex court. Makinde knows that the Supreme Court, which ordered him to pay in the first place, can no longer order him not to pay. This is just an exercise in futility,” Mr Abass-Aleshinloye said.

Mr Abass-Aleshinloye, who disclosed that the total entitlements was reduced to N4.8 billion from N7.2 billion, said the Makinde-led government only paid N1.5 billion in two tranches.

“The actual entitlement is N7.2 billion, but they pleaded and we agreed that we will collect N4.8 billion in the interest of our dear state. They only paid N1.5 billion in two batches. One in 2021 and the other in 2022. Since then, they have refused to pay.

“As law-abiding citizens, we will continue to explore legal means to get our entitlements. We are engaging our legal and technical advisers to get the entitlements as good citizens. We leave it to the conscience of every citizen of the state to judge the level at which both parties have shown respect for the rule of law,” he said.

(NAN)