The National Judicial Council has
directed the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodele Daramola, to
announce the re-opening of the courts in the state following the crisis
that rocked the state judiciary on September 22 and 25.
A source, who attended the meeting
disclosed to
our correspondent on Thursday, that the crisis in the Ekiti
State judiciary was part of the issues deliberated upon by the NJC at
the opening of its periodical meetings on Monday.
The meeting , which was presided by its
Chairman, who is also the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma
Mukhtar, is to continue and end on Tuesday.
“The Ekiti Chief Judge was in attendance.
But the major crisis in the state has been deliberated upon at the
emergency meeting of the council on October 2. So the council asked the
CJ to go ahead and announce the reopening of the courts,” the source
said.
Following this, the Chief Judge is expected to announce the reopening of the courts later in the week.
Justice Daramola had ordered the closure of the courts following the repeated attacks on the court by political thugs.
But security agencies comprising
soldiers, police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps had taken
over the premises of the Ado Ekiti High Court and the Court of Appeal
since October 7.
The NJC had, at its emergency meeting on
October 2, asked the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to
“take over” the investigation on the attack on judges in Ekiti State and
ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.
The council, also at the meeting presided
over by Justice Mukhtar, asked Abba to provide adequate protection for
the judges in the state.
A statement by the council’s Acting
Director of Information Unit, Mr. Soji Oye, said the council condemned
in strong terms the attacks on the court on September 22 and 25, 2014.
The NJC’s emergency meeting on Thursday
followed the petition by the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji
Daramola, to both the NJC and the Commissioner of Police in the state,
alleging that the state’s Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, was the
one who led the thugs that attacked the court.
Crisis in the state judiciary started on
September 22, when political thugs invaded the Ekiti State High Court
presided over by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi to disrupt proceedings in a
case challenging the eligibility of Fayose, to contest the June 21
election, which he won.
The thugs had invaded the court shortly
after the judge refused an application to set aside an order abridging
the time for Fayose to file his defence in the case instituted by two
members of the Ekiti-11, Mr. Adeniyi Ajakaiye and Olufemi Ajayi.
On September 25, another judge, Justice John Adeyeye, was beaten by some political thugs who also tore his suit into shreds.
The latest invasion disrupted the
proceedings of the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal
where Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress were challenging Fayose’s
victory.
Source:Punch Newspaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment