Crisis Looms In Ekiti Over Appointment Of Substantive Chief Judge 

Credit: Gavel International

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Barely 72 hours after the National Judicial Council (NJC) made public the list of 80 prospective judicial officers, troubleshooting has started as a judicial officer in Ekiti State, Justice Jubril Babajide Aladejana has raised the dust, complaining that his name was omitted from the potential list of the prospective Chief Judge of the State.

“I Hon Justice J.B.K. Aladejana have been omitted in the nomination in consideration for appointment as the Chief Judge of Ekiti State”, he stated in a note exclusively published by Gavel International. 

On Tuesday May 7, the names of two judges vying for the post of the Chief Judge of Ekiti State was among the 80 names of judicial officers published by the NJC. They are Justices Adekanye Lekan Ogunmoye, and Ogunyemi Olusegun Isaac. But Justice Aladejana is complaining that his name ought to top the list from Ekiti, being the most senior judge in the state.

Justice Aladejana’s career has been sterling. He became a judge exactly 10 years after his call to the bar. He was appointed a judge in November 1998, just two years after the creation of Ekiti State. Brilliant, humble, pious and well loved in the judicial circles of the then old Ondo State. Everyone knew that he was destined for the top. He is today, the most senior judge in the state, longest serving judge of the High Court in South West Nigeria, and probably Nigeria as a whole.

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However, the political imbroglio that led to the impeachment of Mr Peter Ayodele Fayose in 2006 affected his career as he was suspended by the National Judicial Council together with the then Chief Judge, Justice Kayode Bamisile. His suspension was lifted in March 2023, 16 years after he went on suspension.

In October, 2006, the Ekiti State House of Assembly served an impeachment notice on the Governor of Ekiti State, Peter Ayodele Fayose and his deputy. The House of Assembly, at the expiration of the period stated in the notice requested the then Chief Judge, Justice Kayode Bamisile to constitute a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations contained in the impeachment notice. Justice Bamisile inaugurated a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations who gave a clean bill of health to Fayose. 

Unhappy with the position of the panel, the House of Assembly resolved on 11 October 2006 to suspend Justice Bamisile from his office. It announced Justice Aladejana, then number three in the hierarchy, to hold forte as the Chief Judge Ekiti State. Aladejana thereafter set up a fresh seven-man panel that subsequently indicted Fayose and paved the way for his impeachment. A power tussle soon ensued between the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon Friday Aderemi and the deputy governor, Mrs Biodun Olujimi on who should assume office as governor.

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Aladejana performed the swearing-in of Aderemi as Acting Governor. It was the power struggle that prompted the imposition of a state of emergency by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and appointment of Brigadier General Adetunji Olurin as the Administrator of the State from October 19, 2006 to April 27, 2007.

The then Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Justice Alfa Belgore had subsequently suspended both Justice Bamisile and Aladejana for their roles in the impeachment saga.

However, after the several years of suspension the NJC reinstated him back, paid all his salaries and emoluments for the long years he waited.

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But there’s one snag. By the time he came back, he had become senior to all the judges in the state, including the Chief Judge, the late Justice Oyewole Adeyeye who died as a result of injuries he received when his office part of the new high court building collapsed. He died in November 2024. One of the conditions attached to Aladejana’s comeback was his readiness to work under the supervision of the late Adeyeye, to which he agreed. The late Chief Judge therefore placed him at the High Court 3.

Justice Jubril Babajide Aladejana

Adeyeye’s death created a vacancy for the post of the Chief Judge but rather than appoint Aladejana in acting capacity, the governor, Biodun Oyebanji appointed Justice Lekan Ogunmoye.

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Below is the complaint of Justice Aladejana as received from a source by Gavel International:

“The State JSC has forwarded nomination to the NJC, going by the position indicated by the governor (H.E. Biodun Oyebanji) who appointed a person (Hon Justice Lekan Ogunmoye) who was appointed to the bench almost twelve years after me, as acting CJ of Ekiti State. The outcome is worrisome;

The Ekiti State position that I was in Court 3 and so I am junior to the judge sitting in court 2 is unconstitutional, it runs against convention and common sense. It is noteworthy that in 2006 the NJC recommended that I be suspended and retired for involvement in the impeachment of Dr Fayose. The government of Ekiti State did not implement the recommendation to retire me but continued to request the NJC to reinstate me as a Judge of Ekiti state. I was eventually reinstated in 2023.

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The same allegation of acting in the office of CJ without constitutional backing which led to 16 years suspension is what is being played out in respect of Justice Ogunmoye;

I am surprised that the Government of Ekiti State is trying to punish me again after enduring 16 years of being out of office as a Judge. It is important to note that the same government sent me abroad for studies and on my return appointed me to head a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Chieftaincy Matters. I was subsequently appointed as Chairman of the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission.The foregoing was done while trying to resolve the issue of suspension by the NJC;

I am surprised too that some people would think that I should have been agitating with the deceased CJ, Justice Adeyeye, (who was appointed 6 years after I was appointed) to post me to court 2 and not court 3 on my resumption when I had just resumed from the 16 years of absence. Moreover he explained to me that it was merely for administrative convenience;

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Now the State JSC has omitted my name in the nomination to the NJC for consideration for recommendation to the state governor and has recommended Justice Lekan Ogunyemi and Justice Segun Ogunyemi who were appointed not less than eleven years after I was appointed a judge neither was called to the bar less than six years after I was called. In fact they were magistrates in Ekiti State when I was appointed a Judge;

It is also noteworthy that I never reached any agreement with the Ekiti State government or the NJC when I was to be reinstated not to aspire to be Chief Judge, what was asked of me was whether or not I could work with the now deceased Hon Justice Adeyeye despite being about seven years senior to him on the bench and I agreed as reflected in the letter of reinstatement”.

Many judiciary stakeholders in the state are not happy at the predicament of Aladejana. Even many other judicial officers who spoke with Gavel International on anonymous conditions believed that Aladejana was being punished again after enduring the first 16 years of punishment. “Even the law is against double punishment for the same crime”, one said.

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Another stakeholder who also preferred anonymity believed that Aladejana did no wrong in 2006 but was just used as a mere scapegoat. “People forget easily the situation Ekiti State was in from 2003 to 2006. The state was in turmoil! There were political murders and brigandage everywhere perpetrated by the executive arm of government. The governor was even going to impeach a very prominent paramount ruler which would have further exacerbated the violence. Even the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and very senior Ekiti citizens knew something must be done to save the state. Aladejana stepped in and saved the situation by that Impeachment. Others who refused to lift a finger are enjoying while the career of the poor man was put on hold. It would not be fair to punish him again”.

It is not clear if Aladejana will petition the NJC over this matter. However, only last week, the body reversed the judicial appointment made by Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, who appointed a junior judicial officer over the senior one in acting capacity.

NJC stated: “The Council at its Meeting resolved that the constitutional provision on appointment of an acting Chief Judge of a State does not give room for discretion. Section 271(4) of the Constitution provides:

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“If the office of the Chief Judge of a State is vacant or if the person holding the office is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then, until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office, or until the person holding the office has resumed those functions, the Governor shall appoint the most senior Judge of the High Court to perform those functions.”

The Ekiti State government did not only flout this rule to the detriment of Aladejana,  he’s about to be shut out forever from becoming the Chief Judge of the State.

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