•Your appointments were irregular –Govt
From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Suspended magistrates in Ondo State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) have, again, alleged that the action was borne of hatred and greed.
The suspended magistrates alleged that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu connived with the state’s acting Chief Judge, Mrs Olanrewaju Akeredolu, to victimise them.
The affected magistrates, in a statement by Mr Gbenga Adeyemi, yesterday, said there was no basis for their suspension as none was indicted or queried before being suspended.
Adeyemi stated that governor Akeredolu, being a lawyer, should allow the Judiciary to be independent, rather than being controlled by the executive arm of government.
In a swift reaction, the state government denied the allegations and insisted that Akeredolu, “as a matter of policy, does not intervene in any issue that affects other tiers of government other than the executive.”
The state government spoke through the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Yemi Olowolabi.
Olowolabi said the suspension was carried out after serious scutiny by the JSC, and added that the executive arm of government did not have any input in the exercise.
“However, the acting chief judge, from the documents made available, suspended the affected judicial workers because of irregularities noticed in their appointments.”
He said their positions were later made vacant and advertised for them to re-apply.
But, Adeyemi would have none of that.
He insisted that they “were suspended on the order of the acting chief judge, without any indictment, query or conviction of any offence. We were made to understand that our appointments were not regular, in years under review.”
“As gentlemen of the Bar, we collected those letters hoping that it was a misconception from our employer which just got on board and we hoped such would be addressed shortly. What we hoped for didn’t happen.
“Rather, we were shocked to hear through a circular to the general public that the Judicial Service Commission had technically declared our positions vacant and adverts pleaded in that regard.
“At that point, we became worried that it seemed that the new government of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and Justice Olanrewaju Akeredolu had scores to settle with us. Part of the information reaching us was that the acting chief judge erroneously believed due process was not followed in our appointments. As a reply to this erroneous belief, we state that the affected magistrates are first qualified to be lawyers and have been so qualified for appropriate years, as guaranteed by the Magistrates Courts Laws of Ondo State, 2006, to have been so appointed to the hallowed Lower Bench of Ondo State Judiciary.
“None of us was picked from the university or the Nigerian Law School. We state that all our appointments scaled through the JSC and letters were conveyed to us, same emanating from the JSC of Ondo State. We say that none of us has been found unfit or not proper for the job.”