Politics
Court orders Aregbesola to explain why he has no cabinet 2yrs after
Governor Rauf Aregbesola was on Thursday ordered by an Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo, to within seven days file all necessary papers to tell the court why he refused to constitute his cabinet since 2014.
Ripples Nigeria had on Friday, October 14, reported that Aregbesola had while interacting with journalists in June, 2016 during the ceremonial breaking of fast (Iftar), claimed that he refused to constitute a cabinet because Osun State has no money.
When the case came up in court on Thursday, counsel to the governor, Barrister Fatimo Adesina, prayed the court to consider Aregbesola’s application on the court’s lack of jurisdiction to hear the case before proceeding to the substantive suit filed by Barrister Kanmi Ajibola on his client’s refusal to appoint commissioners for almost two years since his assumption of office for second term.
However, Barrister Ajibola challenged Aregbesola’s tactics of deliberately wasting the time of the court by bringing on the issue of jurisdiction when in actual fact he had instituted his action against the governor since June this year.
Ajibola said, “My submission is, this is no longer the law. When the Supreme Court knew that lawyers were using all delayed tactics in the court and for safety of time, which goes to the foundation of fair hearing, the Apex Court said the preliminary objection, whenever raised, should be concurrently taken.”
Citing the case of Amadi versus NNPC as reported in the NWLR, Part 674 of 2000, Ajibola pointed that “what the Supreme Court did at that time was that at the point of judgment delivery, the court will first deal with the preliminary objection before going to the substantive issue”.
The defence counsel, Adesina, argued that the position of the law has since changed from what Barrister Ajibola cited, asking the court to hear the issue of jurisdiction first before proceeding to the substantive suit.
According to her, in the Supreme Court case on Ajayi versus Adebiyi, vol. 11, Pages 137 and 202 decided in 2012, stated that it will be out of order for the court not to decide the issue of jurisdiction before venturing into the real matter.
After listening to the argument of the parties, the presiding judge, Justice Olayinka Ayoola said the law was so clear in the issue of jurisdiction, and that both the preliminary objection and the originating summons, saying both were going to be handled concurrently.
He frowned at the time wasting tactics of the defendant, asking the governor’s counsel to file within seven days all necessary documents for the hearing and determination of the case and adjourned the case till Wednesday, November 16, 2016.
By Ebere Ndukwu …
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