The Oyo State Government has revealed that it is currently reviewing the ruling of an Abuja Federal High Court that ordered the freezing of ten of its bank accounts, News About Nigeria reports.
Mr. Sulaiman Olanrewaju, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, shared this information during a conversation with journalists in Ibadan on Friday.
The court order, issued on December 15 by Justice A.O. Ebong, directed the attachment of the state government’s accounts in ten commercial banks across the country.
The decision was announced in reaction to a garnishee case brought by local government chairmen that Governor Seyi Makinde had fired on May 29, 2019.
The Supreme Court had previously, on May 7, 2021, nullified the removal of the chairmen and councilors as declared by the governor on his inauguration day for his first term in 2019.
Following this, the dismissed council chairmen then obtained a judgement of N4,874,889,425.60 against Makinde and other state officials and agencies.
While N1.5 billion has been paid, a remaining balance of N3.5 billion prompted the recent court action.
The order implies that the government, although it may have access to the accounts, is barred from drawing funds from the accounts with a balance of less than N3.4 billion.
The Special Adviser said that the ruling is being carefully examined by the offices of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
Once the review is completed, the state government will communicate its official position on the matter.
Mr. Sulaiman stated, “You will agree with me that it is a sensitive matter. So, the ruling needs to be properly studied after which the government will now come up with its own position.”
