EKITI State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Chief Judge Justice Ayodeji Daramola, of siding with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and being part of a plan to use the state judiciary for ulterior motives.
The Ekiti PDP alleged that the CJ is backing a secret plan to prevent Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose, from being inaugurated on October 16.
The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Kola Oluwawole, said the chief judge deliberately amplified what happened in the High Court, Ado-Ekiti last week Monday and Thursday, blaming it on Fayose and shutting down courts to achieve a pre-determined political agenda.
Oluwawole, who said fracas in political cases during court proceedings were not new in the country, cited instances of the Election Tribunal sittings in Ondo State that was disrupted on March 18, 2013, when supporters of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Labour Party (LP) clashed with four persons being severely injured.
He also said on January 23, 2012, supporters of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) clashed at the premises of the governorship election petitions tribunal in Lokoja, Kogi State, with one person shot and three others injured.
The statement added: “The same also happened on January 6, 2012, when persons were injured in a commotion between the supporters of Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State and his predecessor, Alhaji Akwe Doma, at the Court of Appeal in Makurdi.
“In all the three instances mentioned above, courts in the states were not shut while no judge came out of his chamber to ‘warn’ the party supporters.”
On the alleged assault on Justice John Adeyeye last Thursday, he said it was reported that the judge told Fayose, who came to attend the tribunal sitting, to warn his thugs.
“That reportedly took place at the court premises, not inside Justice Adeyeye’s chamber or court.
“Firstly, Justice Adeyeye reportedly addressed law-abiding Nigerians, who came to the court to observe proceedings as thugs. Isn’t that wrong?
“Secondly, Fayose was in the court premises, not inside any courtroom. Meaning that Justice Adeyeye came out of his chamber or court to address people who were possibly being unruly at the court.
“Now we wish to ask: Is it the duty of a judge to check unruly crowd in the court premises? Definitely no!
“Thirdly, if indeed Justice Adeyeye was assaulted by the ‘unruly crowd,’ was he assaulted because they knew he was a judge? Was Justice Adeyeye carrying identification as a judge on his head? Definitely no!
“Most importantly, who says the APC government of Dr. Kayode Fayemi could not have planted some hoodlums in the crowd and the hoodlums set by the state government were the ones who assaulted the judge?
“In Ondo, Kogi and Benue states that I mentioned above, did the chief judge of any of the state shut down the courts?
“Obviously, the Ekiti Chief Judge shut down courts for reasons other than what happened in the Ado-Ekiti High Court premises last week Monday and Thursday. Only Justice Daramola can tell Nigerians why he shut down the courts in Ekiti because even when gunshots boomed in Lokoja on January 23, 2012, the Kogi State Chief Judge did not shut the courts,” the statement claimed.
On last Monday’s incident, the PDP said neither Fayose nor the PDP as a party ordered anyone to invade the court.
It said all the efforts geared towards stopping Fayose from being inaugurated have failed “and only God knows who will get burnt by the fire ignited by those who were rejected by Ekiti people, but wanted to retain power, using the judiciary.”
The party insisted on a thorough probe of the Ekiti judicial crisis to bring those found culpable to book.
