Justice K. D. Damulak of the National Industrial Court, Akure Division, has reaffirmed the Supreme Court’s judgment ordering the payment of the entitlements of vice chairmen an councillors sacked between 2008 and 2011 in Ekiti.
Damulak, however, declined to grant an order of mandamus on the Osun government to pay the sacked political office holders.
The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) reports that the Applicants in the suit were sacked by the Gov. Kayode Fayemi- led administration in its first term.
Chairmen in the 16 council areas subsequently instituted legal action which terminated at the Supreme Court, which ordered that the entitlements of the sacked officials should be paid.
However, the 16 sacked vice chairmen and 177 councillors in the state were not paid.
Damulak said that given the Supreme Court’s existing order, further directives were unnecessary and dismissed the mandamus order sought by the applicants.
According to him, the next step was to enforce the Supreme Court’s order, ensuring that the affected parties receive their due entitlements.
Reacting to the judgment, Mr Abiola Popoola, the counsel to the applicants, explained that the Supreme Court had directed the state government to pay the emoluments of the sacked council chairmen and other public office holders during Fayemi term.
Popoola added that to the chagrin of his clients, the sacked vice chairmen and 177 councillors, their emoluments amounting to N1.6 billion were not paid.
“There was a Supreme Court decision to the effect that they are to be paid an emolument for the term not served, because their termination was illegal, null and void.
“So, it was on that premise that we brought an action for the court to order the payment of that sum because we did our own computation and it went to about N1.6 billion.
“So, the court reaffirmed that the councillors and vice-chairmen are entitled to the judgments, but the state government has refused to pay.
“ As of now, we are not appealing the judgment. We actually will bring a fresh action to determine the competition.
According to him, the state government filed a counter and claimed that his clients were not entitled to the money based on the fact that their names were not listed in the case at the Supreme Court.
Also, the spokesperson of the sacked vice council officials, Mr Dayo Olofinniyi, said that the court had declared the applicants privy to the Supreme Court’s judgment.
“This landmark judgment serves as a testament to the judiciary’s commitment to upholding justice and protecting the rights of citizens.
“It is very clear that we are privy to the judgment of the Supreme Court.
“We are bothered why Ekiti Government has refused to pay the money by honouring the Supreme Court.
“ I want to use this moment to appeal to Gov. Abiodun Oyebanji to do the needful because this is our sweat.
“We worked for it; it is our entitlement not a privilege.
“ The Industrial Court just said that it could not repeat what the Supreme Court had ordered.
“It’s very sad that the government has refused to obey the ruling of the Supreme Court. If the government refuses again, we are pressing on,” he said.
