Osun CJ impasse: Magistrates, chief registry appear before assembly

By Hannah Nathan, Warri

Investigating the accusations made against the troubled Chief Judge, Ishola Omisade, the Chief Registrar of the State High Court, made an appearance before the House of Assembly Committee on Judiciary.

As the lawmakers started looking into some of the accusations made against the Chief Judge, some magistrates escorted the Chief Registrar to the state Assembly on Tuesday.

Approximately twelve high court employees from the Salary Section and Affidavit Office were also spotted at the Assembly.

This is as the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) members in Osun State continued their protest on Tuesday against Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, the chief judge of Osun State.

For the second day in a row, JUSUN leadership blocked entry to the court’s grounds, thereby paralyzing proceedings at the state High Court in Osogbo.

Gbenga Eludire, the chairman of the Osun JUSUN, announced that the union will be meeting with some judges on Wednesday.

He conveyed the hope that following the meeting, some of the group’s demands would be addressed and fulfilled.

“Our judges spoke to us today, they interacted with us and possibly tomorrow (Wednesday), we are going to have a meeting point, where our issues will be looked into and possibly attended to. It is our hope that tomorrow’s meeting will yield a positive result,” he said.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Osun Assembly, Tiamiyu Olamide, declined comment on the issue.

He, however, stated that, “Some people appeared and more will appear but I don’t know their designations and where they are from.

“The committee is working round the clock to complete the investigation within the period given to them by the House of Assembly.”

Meanwhile, members of the dissolved Osun State Judicial Service Commission also alleged that the state governor, Ademola Adeleke had sacked them to pave the way for the removal of the Chief Judge.

Jointly signing a statement on behalf of the group, Rotimi Makinde and Tomi Olagbaju, they described their removal before the expiration of their five-year tenure as an act of executive recklessness.

“When the state government could not find the CJ pliable to execute their devious plan and consequently could not find anything incriminating against the CJ, since all approvals from her office to our commission went through due process of law, the governor believed the best strategy to adopt is to disband us and bring in ductile characters, even when our tenure still remains four years.

“It is strange that a government which has become a butt of jokes and comedy in the comity of states over unending financial infraction, is the one devoting its energy to sack a Chief Judge over ridiculous and puerile N5m graft claim. Where does the government derive powers to investigate and punish a Chief Judge? Such powers reside in the National Judicial Council,” they stated.

When contacted, Kolapo Alimi, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, advised the members of the dissolved commission to wait for the resolution of their legal matter as they had already filed a lawsuit.

“They ought to wait for the case’s resolution as they have already approached the court,” he stated.