*******Council creation: Call Ekiti CJ to order, PDP urges NJC******** Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged the National Judicial Council, NJC, to intervene over the delay by the state Chief Judge, Ayodeji Daramola, to entertain its suit challenging creation of new council areas in the state by the Dr Kayode Fayemi administration. The PDP State Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, said the party was worried over Daramola’s delay in assigning the case it filed against Fayemi and others over the proposed councils to a judge two weeks after the matter was filed. Oluwawole, in a statement in Ado Ekiti yesterday, expressed reservation over fears that the CJ was being pressured by state officials to ensure delay tactic was employed to frustrate the case. The statement reads in part: “Our case, HAD/75/2014, challenging the illegality that the outgoing governor and his party are perpetrating was filed at the High Court of Justice, Ado- Ekiti Judicial Division on July 1, 2014 and deposed to by our State Chairman, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, on behalf of the party. “Two weeks after the matter was filed the CJ refused to assign the matter to any judge to handle, until the national strike by judiciary workers began last Friday. We know their plan and it will never work because it is against legal norms. “We want Ekiti State CJ to do the right thing and know that the interest of the state surpasses personal interest. As a CJ, he is to set the standard for other judges and legal officers to emulate. The temple of justice must not be desecrated because of personal sentiments. “We call on the people of the state and other well-meaning Nigerians to call Fayemi and the CJ to order. We know what to do. The NJC is there to call any errant judge to order,” the PDP said. The PDP also described the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), which is planning to conduct the referendum over the proposed council creation as illegal, since an Ado Ekiti High Court headed by Justice Adeyeye had earlier declared its composition illegal. Oluwawole, who said that the appeal filed by Fayemi against the court verdict was yet to be decided, queried: “Can an illegal body conduct a process that will be legal? “The people of the state must know that we as a party are law abiding and we are for the progress of the state. We want a process that will follow due process and be in tandem with constitutionally recognised provisions,” the PDP added.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:45:13 +0000