A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Oladipo Olasope, who is counsel to Mrs. Oyebola Adepele-Ojo, the Osun State Chief Judge, on Monday, described the corruption allegations made by the State House of Assembly against Adepele-Ojo as figments of their imagination, The Point Newspaper reports
He made this known in a telephone interview with journalists in Osogbo.
The Assembly on Monday denied sacking Adepele-Ojo, arguing that it only exposed alleged corruption in the corridors of the judiciary.
Reacting to the backlash the parliament received from the Nigerian Bar Association and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana following its “step aside” declaration against the CJ, the Speaker, Adewale Egbedun, said there was no intention of encroaching on the constitutional duties of the National Judicial Council, adding that, “Instead, the Osun State House of Assembly is fulfilling its constitutional duty of exposing corruption as stipulated in Sections 128 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
A statement released by Egbedun’s Chief Press Secretary, Olamide Tiamiyu, read, “Given that the Osun State House of Assembly received several petitions alleging corruption against the Chief Judge of Osun State, the Osun State House of Assembly would have been negligent and in breach of its constitutional responsibilities if it had ignored the petitions.
“For the benefit of the public, some of the allegations against the Chief Judge are: Diversion of the funds for the State Judiciary Library; Diversion of the robe allowance of a brother judge of the Osun State High Court which is about N5, 000,000: 00 (Five Million Naira); Indiscriminate suspension of Judicial staff without going through the Judicial Commission and diversion of their salaries.
“Diversion of revenue due to the government from filing electronic affidavits through the sole appointment of a consultant by the Chief Judge. In this case, the consultant makes N1000 on an affidavit as against just N250 that is being remitted to the state coffers; Disobedience of a Court judgement that discharged and acquitted a judicial staff of the allegation of embezzling N30, 000 typing sheet funds; Diversion of the proceeds that was recovered from the convicted armed robbers of the Ikirun robbery.
“The Osun State House of Assembly is aware of the position of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the decisions of the Supreme Court in various cases stating that the Governor of a State and the House of Assembly cannot remove a Chief Judge from office without the participation of the National Judicial Council.
“Therefore, we urge commentators to be cautious in their utterances, as they may convey the misconception that the Osun State House of Assembly has removed or intends to remove the Chief Judge of Osun State without the involvement of the National Judicial Council.
“It is pertinent to also clarify that the Osun State House of Assembly was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by the Chief Judge of Osun State at the National Industrial Court, Ibadan. Moreover, the Osun State House of Assembly has not been served with any injunction related to this lawsuit, so it is false for anyone to insinuate that the House of Assembly acted in contravention of an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction.”
But, Adepele-Ojo’s lawyer absolved the female judge of all the allegations, saying, “Who are they to be querying the CJ? Disciplining the CJ does not lie with the Osun State House of Assembly; Section 292 of the Constitution is very clear. It is the NJC who can discipline a CJ, not the House of Assembly. So, all those allegations are figments of their own imagination. They have to say something to justify their position and that is what they choose to say.
Olasope said the suit before the Nigeria Industrial Court in Ibadan has been adjourned till December 4 and that a lawyer, Muftau Adetunbi, appeared for Governor Ademola Adeleke and the Osun State House of Assembly when the matter was mentioned on Monday.
“The issue now is that they (Adeleke and Assembly) have come to court and employed the service of a lawyer who has collected service of processes on their behalf this morning in court. That is the point at which we are. So, the case has now been adjourned till 4th of December. So, we will see how it goes from there. They employed just one lawyer, Muftau Adetunbi.
“They are putting the cart before the horse. After you asked the woman to step aside, you are now bringing up charges and allegations. Why not bring the allegations first, try her, if you find her guilty, and then send it to the NJC and the NJC will now decide.”
The Point had reported that members of the Judiciary Staff Union in the state on Monday locked the entrance to the Osun State High Court in Osogbo in protest against the Chief Judge and accused her of persecution.
The protesting workers led by the Chairman, Osun JUSUN, Oluwagbemiga Olakunle Eludire, prevented movement into the premises which houses the office of the embattled CJ.
Armed with placards with inscriptions such as ‘Judiciary Staff Deserves Better,’ ‘We are Tired of Oppression and Stagnation,’ and ‘Unlawful Suspension of Judiciary Staff Without Recourse to Judicial Service Commission is Barbaric,’ among others, accused Ojo of refusal to pay wardrobe allowances of workers in the last three years, threatening to boycott legal activities till their issues are looked into.
