Osun State government, on Thursday, rejected a High Court judgment, delivered in Ilesa, which held that “State of Osun” was an aberration, illegal and unknown to the 1999 constitution of the federal government of Nigeria.
The government hinted that the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Ajibola Basiru had been directed to file an appeal for a stay of execution of the judgment.
Addressing a press conference at the Governor’s Office, located inside the precinct of Bola Ige House, Abere, one of the media aides to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Mrs Bukola Aderibigbe, who read a prepared speech said “the State Government of Osun has received the report of a High Court judgment, sitting in Ilesa, which invalidated the State of Osun Land Use Charge Law 2016. We are still studying it”.
According to Aderibigbe, who is also the Face of Osun, “we do not agree with the judgment and it is rejected in its entirety. Nevertheless, we have firm belief in the rule of law and respect for the judiciary. We have therefore asked the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to appeal immediately and asked for a stay of execution pending the determination of the case.”
“It must, however, be noted that this is a case instituted with most malicious and malevolent intention of crippling the state’s revenue drive and ultimately her finances. We have the firm belief that the judiciary would allow itself to be dragged on this dishonourable path”, she added.
It would be recalled that an Osun State High Court, sitting in Ilesa and presided over by Justice Ynka Afolabi had delivered a judgment in a matter instituted by a legal practitioner, Mr Kanmi Ajibola, declaring “State of Osun” illegal, null and void, adding that all transactions done in that name were unknown to the laws of Nigeria.
He also chided Governor Rauf Aregbesola and lawmakers in the Osun State House of Assembly for the creation of the name, stressing that they all took their oath of office in the name of Osun State and not State of Osun.
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