Osun assembly counters Adeleke over rejection of ‘state of Osun’

The Osun State House of Assembly has said the state will continue to be referred to as ‘state of Osun’ as against ‘Osun state.’

This was announced on Monday in a statement by the house committee chairman on media and publicity, Kunle Akande.

On Sunday, while making his inauguration speech, Ademola Adeleke, the Osun governor, ordered an immediate reversal to ‘Osun state’ instead of ‘state of Osun’, which was adopted during the Rauf Aregbesola administration.

Speaking on the development, the Osun assembly said the adoption of ‘state of Osun’ is “a matter of law”.

“The usage of the state anthem, crest and flag is an enactment of law and as such, its usage is a matter of law and not choice.

“The enactment ‘state of Osun anthem, crest and flag law, 2012’ assented to on the 18th of December, 2012 contained in Schedule I, II, III, IV and V, which carefully details every component of this law is not in ambiguity.

“Schedule I is the State Anthem, Schedule II has to do with the State Crest, Schedule III is the symbolic significance of the the symbolic significance of the elements in the Flag.

“Lastly, while we are aware of a court judgment in effect recognising “Osun State”, the Assembly, pending the determination and exhaustion of all legal means would not be drawn into this matter.

“However, the state shall and will continue to be described as the state of the virtuous (Ipinle Omoluabi),” the statement reads.

Recall that the state government, under the administration of Rauf Aregbesola, had announced the renaming of Osun state as “state of Osun” in 2011.

But in 2017, an Osun state high court sitting in Ilesa declared that the renaming is illegal and therefore, null and void.