Ekiti: Oni Asks S’court To Reinstate Him As Gov

The former governor of Ekiti state, Engr. Segun Oni yesterday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate him as the governor of the state.

Oni also urged the apex court to set aside the ruling delivered on February 27, 2012 by a five-member panel of judges of the Court of Appeal in Ado-Ekiti, presided over by Justice Tijani Abdullahi, as well as the judgment of October 15, 2010 of the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, which removed him from office and declared Kayode Fayemi as the elected governor.

Counsel to the former governor, Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN) leading 45 other lawyers including four Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), while adopting his brief of argument yesterday at the Supreme court, Abuja asked the apex jurists for a consequential order that Segun Oni should be reinstated as the governor f Ekiti state by virtue of the tribunal judgment delivered on may 5, 2010.

Gadzama, in an alternative, asked the court to order that the Speaker of Ekiti state House of Assembly to be made acting governor.

Oni, through Gadzama, challenged his removal on the grounds that the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, who constituted and presided over the panel, wrote the judgment of the Appeal Court that sacked him from office had close affinity with Senator Bola Tinubu, the alter ego of Fayemi’s party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

According to Gadzama, Salami was biased and favoured ACN in the judgment and that such judgment should be set aside on the ground of judicial bias.

Oni believes there are good reasons to subject the verdict to judicial review and therefore approached the Supreme Court alleging bias in the matter against the Chairman of the Court of Appeal panel and suspended President of the Court, Justice Isa Ayo Salami.

Oni told the seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Tanko Mohammed that he has a fundamental right to fear hearing and there is judicial bias in Salami’s judgment and if established, that judgment will be a nullity.

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