Ekiti: Fayemi Sets To Obey Supreme Court On LG Relocation

Ayodele Oni, Ado Ekiti

More than four months after the Supreme Court ordered the Ekiti state government to relocate the headquarters of Ilejemeje local government back to Eda Oniyo, Governor Kayode Fayemi has set machinery in motion to implement the judgment.

The state helmsman had in January constituted a committee, to study the judgment and advise the state government on what to do.

The committee, headed by the deputy governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, was given three months to report back to government. The three months elapsed on March 29.

Investigations revealed that the committee was initially meant to buy time and in a way coerce the Eda Oniyo people to vote for Dr Fayemi’s party, the All Progressive Congress, (APC) during the just concluded general election.

The party won landslide and Governor Fayemi, watchers of the state’s politics say has no option than to implement the judgment.

Ilejemeje local government is among councils created in 1996 by the late Head of State, Gen Sanni Abacha with its statutory headquarter in Eda Oniyo.

However, three months after its take off, the then military administrator of Ekiti state, Col Inuwa Bawa announced through radio that the headquarter has been taken from Eda Oniyo to Iye due to what he described as administrative convenience.

The Eleda of Eda Oniyo, Oba Julius Awolola challenged the decision in court.

The lower court gave him judgment which was appealed against by the people of Iye.

The Appeal court in Ilorin, Kwara state upturned the judgment of the lower court, which prompted Oba Awolola to proceed to supreme.

Almost 21 years after, the supreme court delivered its judgment on December 14, 2018 ordering Ekiti state government to relocate the headquarters back to Eda Oniyo since there was no statute backing its relocation to Iye.

Since the judgment, Ekiti state government has been dilly-dallying on the issue

It was learnt that the committee did not meet for once for the three months it was due to report back to government.

The joy of the people of Eda Oniyo, however knew no bounds on April 15 when the committee saddled with the responsibility of implementing the apex court judgment visited the community.

The committee, headed by the deputy governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi inspected facilities on ground to be used as temporary buildings for the take-off of the council.

To register their happiness over the visit, the people trooped out and carried various placards eulogising the present administration as well as urging it to expedite action on the implementation of the supreme court judgment.

The president of Eda Oniyo Progressive Union, Dr Rufus Ajayi, who conducted members of the committee round, pleaded for immediate action adding that the people had waited for 22 years to seek redress over the illegal relocation of the council headquarter to Iye.

Going down memory lane, Dr Ajayi, a former commissioner in the state, explained that Eda Oniyo community single-handedly worked for the creation of Ilejemeje local government while other communities were canvassing for the creation of new Ero local council.

A memo dated December 15, 1995 where all Obas and community leaders endorsed the creation of Ilejemeje local government with Eda Oniyo as its headquarters was made available to The Source.

Part of the memo reads “our prayer, in view of the foregoing, is for the creation of Ilejemeje local government with the headquarters at Eda Oniyo.”

According to him, other towns including Iye did not believe that a ward then under Mona local government could be made a local government.

“EDA Oniyo single handedly funded the project; we only got moral support from other towns, while Iye was busy pressing for a new Ero local government,” he added.

Dr Ajayi assure d Ekiti state government of continued peaceful coexistent among the seven communities that made up the council stressing, that when it was relocated with military dispatch, nobody raised a whimper and now that the supreme court has ordered its return to the original owners, heaven will not fall.

Oba Awolola in his passionate appeal to the committee, pleaded for accelerated action on the relocation saying for over 20 years the headquarters was at Iye, indigenes of his community were deprived of amenities and appointments.

The deputy governor, Otunba Egbeyemi who led the committee said it would report back to the governor who had the final say will on the relocation.

He urged the people to continue to be law abiding, assuring that the apex court judgment would definitely be implemented.

He later led committee members to inspect facilities on ground on Eda Oniyo. The committee had earlier visited Iye during which the people were equally advised to be law abiding