The South West chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the refusal of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi over his refusal to swear-in Emmanuel Bamidele Omotoso and Lucas Olukayode Ogundana as High Court judges in the state, saying the governor was acting like a tyrant.
Former Chief Registrar of Ekiti State Judiciary, Emmanuel Adesodun, Mr. Emmanuel Omotoso, and Kayode Ogundana were nominated and recommended for appointment as judges by the NJC. But Fayemi refused to swear in the duo of Omotoso and Ogundana allegedly because they represented the PDP in election cases.
Zonal Publicity Secretary of the party, Hon Kayode Babade, said in a statement issued today described Fayemi’s refusal to swear in the two as an afront on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he sworn to uphold.
He said the refusal amounts to disregard for the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Section 271 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that “the appointment of a person as judge of a High Court in a state shall be made by the governor of the state acting on the recommendations of the National Judicial Council.”
“Apart from his disregard and afront on the NJC, Fayemi’s action is also a direct humiliation of members of the Ekiti State Judicial Service Commission (JSC), who screened and recommended the two lawyers for the posts of judges.”
“How on earth will a governor, who derived his position from the judiciary to be ridiculing the same institution that brought him to power with this flagrant afront on the NJC and the JSC.
“With this, it is now obvious that these ACN elements that were imposed on the people by Justice Isa Ayo Salami and his ‘trusted’ justices are aversed to the rule of law that they profess to be promoting.
“Lovers of democracy and rule of law in Nigeria should therefore begin to take interest in the anti-democracy activities of Fayemi and his other colleagues in the ACN with a view to saving the people from their tyranical regime in the Southwest.”
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