The Osun House of Assembly Speaker Adewale Egbedun has stated that the Assembly has no intention to encroach/ meddle on the duties of the National Judicial Council (NJC) by the suspension of the State’s Chief Judge, Justice Adepele Ojo.
In a statement by his media aide, Olamide Tiamiyu in Osogbo, Egbedun said the Assembly was only performing its constitutional duties.
Recall that the Osun State House of Assembly had on November 16, passed a resolution for the suspension of the Chief Judge over allegations of corruption
During an emergency plenary, Egbedun said the suspension was based on series of petitions received by the Assembly against the Chief Judge (CJ)
According to the Speaker, the petitions bordered on corruption, gross misconduct and abuse of office.
The Assembly also advised the governor to appoint the most Senior Judge in the State as the acting CJ.
On the same day, Gov. Ademola Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, approved the suspension of the CJ.
The governor went further to announce the appointment of Justice Olayinka Afolabi as the acting CJ with immediate effect.
However, in another conflicting statement on Sunday, the State government said the governor had neither removed the CJ nor appointed anyone in acting capacity.
A statement by Mr Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, said the governor had only forwarded the resolution of the assembly and recommendations for an acting appointment to the Chief Justice of the Federation for his action.
The speaker, however, said that the Assembly was fulfilling its constitutional duty of exposing corruption as stipulated in Sections 128 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Speaker Egbedun said that the Assembly received several petitions against the Chief Judge.
He posited that the Assembly would have been negligent and in breach of its constitutional responsibilities, if it had ignored the petitions.
According to him, some of the allegations against the CJ include diversion of the funds for the state’s judiciary library, diversion of the robe allowance of other judges of the State High Court, amounting to N5 million.
The Speaker also said that the CJ was accused of indiscriminate suspension of Judicial staff without going through the Judicial Commission and diversion of their salaries.
He said the CJ was also accused of diversion of revenue due to the government from electronic affidavits through the sole appointment of a consultant.
“In this case, the consultant makes N1,000 on an affidavit as against just N250 that is being remitted to the State coffers,” he said.
Egbedun said the Assembly was aware of the position of the 1999 Constitution and the decisions of the Supreme Court in various similar cases.
He said that the governor and the Assembly could not remove a Chief Judge from office without the participation of the National Judicial Council.
The speaker urged commentators to be cautious in their utterances, as they might convey the misconception that the assembly had removed or intended to remove the CJ without the involvement of the National Judicial Council.
Egbedun also said that the Assembly was not in anyway listed as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by the CJ at the National Industrial Court, Ibadan.
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