The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan has fixed April 1 for the hearing of the appeal filed by the Oyo State government challenging a court order not to dissolve the 33 local government chairmen and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) in the state.
The adjournment followed withdrawal and striking out of three different applications which the lead counsel to the applicants, Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) filed earlier.
The justices believed the suits would stand as obstacles to the main substantive matter.
The appeal marked CA/IB/300/2018 was instituted by the governor of Oyo State, the Attorney General of Oyo State, and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.
Others are the Accountant-General of the state, the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, the Oyo State House of Assembly, and the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC).
Its respondents are Mr Mojeed Bosun Ajuwon and 10 others.
The legal battle was renewed after May 6, 2019, when Justice Aderonke Aderemi ruled that the Oyo State government should not sack the chairmen as planned, but the judgement was appealed by the state government.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to the respondents, Niyi Akintola (SAN), told the court that he filed his brief of argument out of time and prayed the court to grant an extension of time.
He added that his brief of argument was supported with an 18-paragraph affidavit and the same served on the respondents.
In his submission, counsel to the claimant, Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), expressed displeasure at Akintola’s move but noted that he would not oppose the application.
The three-man panel headed by Justice Jimi Bada, thereafter, granted the application for extension of time until April 1, 2020.
