Oyo House extends council chairmen’s tenure by another 6 months

Amidst heavy security, the Oyo State House of Assembly, on Thursday, approved the extension of the tenure of caretaker chairmen for 29 out of 33 council areas in the state for another six months.
The chairmen, whose earlier six months tenure expired yesterday, had been in office since August 2011.
Two of the remaining caretaker chairmen are members of the Accord Party recently sworn in, while the other two councils are being administered by executive secretaries since 2011.
The lawmakers granted Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s request for a fresh extension during plenary presided over the speaker, Alhaja Monsurat Sunmonu.
The fresh approval has  foreclosed the likelihood of council poll holding in the state earlier than September, 2013, as the fresh tenure will expire in May 2013, after which statutory 150-day notice must be given before the election.
The sitting was held at about 9.00 a.m. under tight security with an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) stationed in front of the complex, while armed policemen manned the complex.
It was gathered that the security cover was not unconnected with the revolt against the extension of the tenure of the chairmen by aggrieved Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members, especially in Oke Ogun area of the state.
During the plenary, the lawmakers also approved two commissioner-nominees forwarded to them by Governor Ajimobi to fill vacant positions following the sack of three commissioners on Monday.
One of the nominees, Mrs Mutiat Adeyemi, one of the daughters of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, was asked to take a bow and leave the floor.
The other, who was the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in the 2011 governorship election in the state and until his elevation a Special Adviser on Education, Mr Taiwo Otegbeye, was drilled by the House.
Otegbeye, who will be assigned the information ministry when sworn in, pledged to eliminate what he called the bad press against the government of Governor Ajimobi by providing timely and truthful information about the programmes and policies of the administration.