Osun Gov Denies Hatching Plot To Remove Chief Judge… Top Lawyer Calls Newly Signed Bill Her ‘Safety Net’

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state on Monday denied hatching a plot to remove the state Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo.

   An indigene of Osun state, Chief Yomi Aliyu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,  had issued a statement  claiming to have exposed a plot to remove Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, a Class  85 of the Nigeria Law School, as Chief Judge.

Governor Adeleke’s spokesman, Mr. Olawale Rasheed in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com not only asserted that nothing of such had happened but also called the top lawyer an alarmist.

‘The attention of the Osun State Government has been drawn to a false alarm by an agent of the All Progressive Congress(APC) in person of Mr. Yomi Aliyu, SAN, who has turned himself into an unsolicited trumpet and a puppet of the Osun state Chief Judge. 

It is not surprising of Mr. Aliu to have cooked up a false story. It is customary of him the same way he did during the Osun governorship election petition. He had raised a fake alarm and an unjustifiable insinuation that there was a serious security threat in the state. This nonetheless turned out to be unfounded.

It is unfortunate that a supposed learned senior Lawyer can go that low on the path of propaganda and unnecessary sensation without exercising any iota of decorum and dignity. 

For the sake of clarity, the present administration enjoys a very warm and harmonious relationship with the Judiciary as against the pseudo acrimony being peddled by Mr. Aliu. 

Governor Adeleke is paying special attention to the welfare of judicial officers in the state as against the ridicule to which the past administration unleashed on the judges by not paying their arrears of allowances regularly and by not attending to the pecuniary benefits of the retired judges.

Members of the public need to be informed that there is no controversy on the processes of disengagement or otherwise even with respect to the old and the new law on the retirement age for judges of superior courts, all insinuations in the hatchet job are false and figments of imagination of the propagandist. 

Governor Adeleke as a due process leader is committed to full observance of the law without fear or favour and with due reference to impartial application for retirement or extension of tenure of public officials.

Mr. Aliu is cautioned on his constant false alarm and his phantom claim of constitutional crisis in Osun when there is none at all. The Judicial Service Commission is an executive body and its staff are appointees and employees of the executive. Therefore, it is indecent of Mr Aliu to unduly meddle in the running of affairs of the government. 

The controversial senior Lawyer is known for propaganda and undue sensation as a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC). He is therefore to be ignored and not given any serious attention. 

He is also warned not to drag our noble Chief Judge into his infamous political agenda. In Osun state, all arms of government are in deep harmony for the good of the state’ the statement said,

Chief Yomi Alliyu had raised the alarm that a constitutional crisis was imminent  in the state following  alleged directive  from the governor that Justice Ojo  should make her retirement letter available.

Aliyu had claimed that the Head of Service  asked the Secretary to the Osun State Judicial Service Commission to bring to his office Justice Ojo’s retirement letter.

He had called the new law on the retirement age for judges as Ojo’s safety net.

  Until Thursday,  June 8, 2023, the retirement age  for high court judges was 65 years while it was 70 years for Justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

President Bola Tinubu   has however assented to the bill  extending  the retirement age for high court judges from 65 to 70 years. It was the first bill he would sign since taking office on May 29.

Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo , who was appointed as a Judge of the High Court on December 21, 2000 , became the  Acting Chief Judge on March 5, 2013 while the state House of Assembly  sealed her appointment in June same year.

  She had succeeded Late Justice Olaniyi Ojo, who had retired from the bench earlier in the year in question-Team@orientactualmags.com
Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you