An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa has declared that the change of name of the state to “State of Osun” by Gov. Rauf Aregbesola is illegal, null and void.
Delivering the judgment on Thursday, Justice Yinka Afolabi ruled that the law and its makers were unknown to the 1999 Constitution.
The judge chided Mr. Aregbesola for deliberately and singlehandedly renaming the state, contrary to the known norms and the nation’s constitution.
He also declared that the makers of the law, who are currently serving as members of the State House of Assembly, were not sworn in as members of the “State of Osun House of Assembly” but as members of Osun State House of Assembly going by the seventh schedule of the constitution.
“The executive governor of the state changed the name in 2011. The renaming of a state goes further and deeper for anyone to singlehandedly do.
To re-order the name of Osun State as “State of Osun” is hereby declared as illegal, null and void,’’ Mr. Afolabi stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case was instituted by an activist, Kanmi Ajibola, who had challenged the legality of the “State of Osun Land Use Charge Law.’’
