The judge handling the case filed against
the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has
withdrawn from the suit.
The case, filed before Mr. Fayose was
sworn-in as governor, is to challenge his
eligibility for the governorship election.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Justice
Olusegun Ogunyemi, who was handling the
case, has withdrawn from it citing threats
to his life.
Mr. Ogunyemi is said to have handed over
the case file to the Chief Judge of Ekiti
State, Ayodeji Daramola.
The judge, who had earlier returned the
case file to Mr. Daramola, was reassigned
the case last week.
An Ekiti-based pro-democracy group, the
E-11, had gone to the court to challenge
Mr. Fayose’s eligibility to contest the
gubernatorial election which he won
against the then incumbent, Kayode
Fayemi, of the All Progressives Congress,
APC.
Mr. Fayose is a member of Nigeria’s
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The PDP had petitioned the chief judge of
the state, arguing that Mr. Ogunyemi may
show bias in the case.
In the petition signed by the state
Chairman of the party, Idowu Faleye, and
addressed to Mr. Daramola, the PDP noted
that going by the manner the case was
previously handled by Mr. Ogunyemi, the
governor and the PDP, who are defendants
in the case, would not get justice.
“We are surprised; however, to be
informed that the same judge, Justice
Ogunyemi had resumed sitting over the
same case he had voluntarily withdrawn
from,” the PDP said.
“When we probed why the same judge,
whose action caused unmitigated crisis in
the state prior to the swearing in of the
new governor of the state and a party in
the case, we were informed that the
National Judicial Commission, NJC,
directed him to resume sitting over the
case. However, our investigation at the NJC
proved to the contrary.
Our source at the NJC asked a rhetorical
question of when the NJC has become the
assigning judge of cases pending before a
state high court.”
Also, the counsel to Mr. Fayose, Ahmed
Raji, has filed a motion seeking transfer of
the case from Mr. Ogunyemi.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that following Mr.
Ogunyemi’s withdrawal, judges in Ekiti are
reluctant to take over the case.
The Ekiti State Government had on
September 25 ordered the immediate
closure of all state courts after thugs
allegedly backing the then governor-elect,
Mr. Fayose, descended on a court,
attacking a judge and other staff.
The assailants attacked Justice John
Adeyeye, beat him up and ripped his
clothes for allegedly being rude to Mr.
Fayose. The pandemonium that ensued
scuttled the sitting of the Ekiti State
Governorship Election Petition Tribunal
billed for that day at the High court, Ado-
Ekiti, as judicial workers abandoned their
duty post and ran for safety, witnesses and
the state judiciary authority had said.
That attack was the second that the week
after thugs earlier stormed another court
in Ado Ekiti and attacked Mr. Ogunyemi.
Mr. Daramola subsequent ordered all state
courts to remain closed until adequate
security measures were in place, a
statement signed by the Chief Registrar,
Obafemi Fasanmi, had indicated.
The registrar said police officers who were
at the court did nothing to stop the second
attack. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/170839-judge-in-fayoses-eligibility-case-steps-down-citing-threat-to-life.html

people bad