All the 32 members of the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly have been conferred with the Justice of the Peace titles.
The titles were conferred on the lawmakers on Tuesday at the Caucus Room of the Parliament Building, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan, the state capital, by the Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Oyelowo Oyewo.
The Clerk of the House, Mrs Yetunde Awe and her deputy, Mrs Taiwo Muraina, were also honored with the Justice of the Peace title at the ceremony.
Prof Oyewo disclosed that, as elected representatives of the people, all the 32 members automatically qualified to be justices of the peace as they are leaders in their various communities, saying though the conferment was honorific, it is a further call to service to the society.
He stated: “The decision to confer it on members of the House is because people have already elected and selected them as leaders by election, hence they are representatives of the people.
“When it comes to peace building, they are stakeholders and they can bring their experiences in law making to bear in the promotion of peace in their various communities. Basically, by all considerations and yardsticks, they are eminently qualified to be conferred with the title,” Prof Oyewo asserted.
Earlier, the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, noted that the conferment was another first, as the 9th Assembly is the pioneer Assembly to have received such honour, assuring that the lawmakers were determined to do more in promoting peace in their constituencies.
“We are excited by this honour done all members of the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly. This will further spur us to be closer to our people and also ensure that everything works,” the Speaker noted.
Justices of the Peace are judicial officers appointed to conserve peace and perform quasi-judicial and administrative functions.
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