Court Dismisses Suspended Ogun LG Chairman’s Suit To Stop Probe

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

An Ogun High Court sitting in Ijebu Ode has dismissed an ex-parte application filed by the suspended Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo, asking the court to stop further investigations and actions by the councillors probing him on allegations of financial mismanagement.

In its ruling on the ex-parte motion argued by Barrister O.T. Are, standing in for Adeyinka Kotoye SAN, on behalf of the suspended chairman, Wale Adedayo, the presiding judge, Justice Ayodele Omoniyi, dismissed the application in “its entirety”.

It would be recalled that councillors of the Ijebu East Legislative Council recently suspended the chairman in continuation of investigations on alleged financial malpractices and directed the vice chairman to take over pending the conclusion of its investigation.

Are, the counsel to the plaintiff, informed the court of the ex-parte motion dated September 6 praying for an interim order restraining the defendants, their agents, and privies from further proceeding on the letter of invitation to the claimant that asked him to appear before the Legislative Council on September 14 or in the alternative to order parties to maintain the status quo.

In its ruling, the court noted that the application by the plaintiff was not timely since he had received a notice on August 31 of the said resolution but waited till September 11 before filing his application.

“Delay defeats equity,” the judge said.

The claimant was ordered to put the defendants on notice and come back for the hearing of the originating summons on September 22, 2023.