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Local government chairmen in Ekiti State have faulted reports
that they have abandoned their duty posts since last Friday’s Appeal Court
judgment that sacked the former governor of the state, Segun Oni.

Gbenga Ogunleye, the spokesperson of the council bosses’ union,
the Association of the Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), said the local
officials have no reason to abandon their duty posts as a result of the
judgment that Kayode Fayemi was the duly elected governor of the state, because
there was no law barring them from performing their statutory roles as council
chairmen.

Mr Ogunleye said at no time did the chairmen run away from their
respective councils. “All the 16 council chairmen have been performing their
roles as recommended by law and there is no law restraining them from
discharging their duties,” he said.

‘Tissue of lies’

He also faulted allegations that ALGON members have been
perpetrating fraud since the judgment was handed down by the court, saying the
allegation was a tissue of lies designed to dent the reputations of members.

“It would be a great disservice to the people of the state if the
council chairmen engage in any form of corruption as a result of change of
government,” he said. “Ekiti speaks the same dialect and this makes us unique
in this country, so we cannot because of a change of government involve
ourselves in any corrupt practices because we are one and we will continue to
be so.”

The ALGON spokesperson, who is the chairman of Ekiti West Local
Government, said his colleagues shall continue to perform their duties in
accordance with the will of the people and the provision of the law, in
peaceful coexistence with the new government.

He also lauded the quick response of Mr Fayemi to the rumour that the state
government has not taken any position in respect of the status of the local
government chairmen. The 16 local government chairmen, who are all members of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were elected in December 2008 by the State
Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) in an election that was boycotted by
the Action Congress of Nigeria, which was the opposition party at the time.