The Eda Oniyo community in Ilejemeje Local Government area of Ekiti State has appealed to Ekiti State Government to expedite action on implementation of the judgement of the Supreme Court.
The Apex Court had on December 14, 2018 ordered relocation of the Council headquarters from Iye Ekiti to Eda Oniyo.
The Chairman, Eda Oniyo Progressives Union, Gabriel Ojo Adetifa, said the community was worried over three months after the Supreme Court delivered the judgment, Eda Oniyo was yet to see any progress on the part of the state government on the implementation.
Ilejemeje Council headquarters was relocated from Eda Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti by the state government in 1997 following which the traditional ruler began litigation to ensure reversal of the action.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment in the case of Oba Awolola (Eleda of Eda Oniyo) Vs Governor of Ekiti State and two others, said relocation of the headquarters from Eda Oniyo was unknown to law and ordered it moved back to Eda Oniyo.
Consequently, the state government on December 29, 2018 inaugurated a seven-member implementation committee headed by the deputy governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, to among others “advise government on the administrative and practical implications of the judgment of the Supreme Court.
Other terms of reference of the committee billed to submit its report on or before March 29, 2019 included “broad consultation with relevant stakeholders and initiative to “enhance peaceful co- existence among inhabitants of the affected communities”.
Adetifa, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, said: “Information at the community’s disposal showed that the seven-man committee on the implementation of the judgment expected to submit its report on March 29 did not meet for once since its inauguration.
“None of the committee members was at Eda Oniyo here on the matter.
“Even the three months given to the committee lapsed on March 29, we have not heard that they had submitted their report.
“At our meetings with the deputy governor, Chief Egbeyemi, he gave us assurances that the judgment would be implemented and that the committee was working. We are expecting. We are worried. The government should do this without delay.”
Egbeyemi had at a meeting with the Eleda of Eda Oniyo, Oba Julius Oladipo Awolola and leaders of Eda Oniyo praised the tenacity of the community in following the path of peace in the pursuit of justice throughout the 19 years the case lasted in the courts.
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