On Sunday, November 27, 2022, the newly sworn-in Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke in his inaugural speech sought the consent of the people to issue six Executive Orders.

Adeleke, who had just taken his oath of allegiance as governor, stated that the orders were means that will help him hit the ground running in administration of the State.

To many, the Executive Orders did not come as a surprise.

However, for quite some others, it was a shock as the State has not in its 31 years of existence been ruled by such orders.

So many do not understand what an Executive Order is.

Even though the governor did not need the consent of the Osun State House of Assembly to issue the Executive Orders, he still craved the indulgence of the people to introduce them.

Adeleke’s Executive Orders

The first working day of the new administration saw Adeleke signing the orders thereby giving them force. The orders are:

Executive Order Number 1 on the State’s bank accounts which ordered the immediate freezing of all government accounts in all banks and other financial institutions.

Executive Order Number 2 on staff audit which ordered all Heads of Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Commissions, Boards and Parastatals of Osun State Government to carry out an immediate staff audit of the actual number of government workers in their various Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Commissions, Boards and Parastatals, as at 17th July, 2022, and to file a report to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor stating the full details and position/designation of each of the staff on the forwarded list, within 7 working days from the date of this Executive order using the attached Oath of Fidelity Template.

Executive Order number 3 on employment, which ordered that all employments in the service of Osun State Government made in any capacity into any capacity in all the Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Commissions, Boards and Parastatals after July 17th, 2022 be and are hereby nullified.

Executive Order Number 4 on appointments, which ordered that all appointments in the service of Osun State Government made in any capacity into any capacity in all the Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Commissions, Boards and Parastatals after 17th July, 2022 be and are hereby reversed.

Executive Order Number 5 on Chieftaincy Affairs and appointment of traditional rulers, which ordered that all appointments of traditional rulers made by Osun State Government after 17th July, 2022, are hereby ordered to be reviewed to ensure that there was strict compliance with due process of chieftaincy declarations and native law, custom and tradition relating to such chieftaincies. In the case of Ikirun, Iree and Igbajo, to avoid further breakdown of law and order, the appointments of Akinrun of Ikinrun, Aree of Ire and Owa of Igbajo are hereby put on hold pending review.

Subsequently, the palaces of Akinrun of Ikirun, Aree of Iree and Owa of Igbajo should remain unoccupied, while security agencies are hereby ordered to take charge.

Executive Order number 6 which set up Review Committees in line with the executive orders numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 already issued by the State governor.

Reactions

As expected, reactions to the issuance of the Executive Order was swift, especially regarding the nullification of the earlier recruitments into the State civil service, reversal of the appointments of 30 permanent secretaries and suspension of the process of installing the Akinrun of Ikirun, Aree of Iree and Owa of Igbajo and ordering of security agencies to occupy their palaces.

The Executive Orders also sought to change the state from The State of Osun to Osun State and the appellation from The State of the Virtuous to The State of the Living Spring.

The reaction of the citizens of the State was mixed. The Osun State House of Assembly took the lead when it said it would retain the appellation: the State of the Virtuous as opposed to the State of the Living Spring which the governor had decreed.

It stated that the issue of name change being a judicial matter, it would observe the status quo.

Government response

The Osun State Government responded by swiftly inaugurating all the review committees within days. The government also debunked news that it had sacked all the newly recruited teachers and healthcare workers.

It also denied sacking any traditional ruler.

Meanwhile, as the committees are yet to turn in their reports, the citizens of the State are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the various committee sessions.