Justice D. I. Kolawole of the Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure on Monday, directed the state House of Assembly and the embattled Deputy Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to close ranks and settle their political issues.
Justice Kolawole made the remark when one of the cases filed between the parties, a suit filed by the Ondo State Government and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu against four registrars of the court, the Ondo State House of Assembly, the Speaker of the House, the Clerk, the Deputy Governor, and the Chief Judge of Ondo State, to stop the compilation of records of appeal in aid of the appeal filed by the deputy governor against the ruling of Hon Justice Akintan-Osadebay delivered on October 10, 2023, came up for hearing before him in Akure.
When the case came up for hearing, the plaintiffs were not in court, and there was no legal representation for them.
The same was true for the House of Assembly and the Chief Judge.
The deputy governor and counter-claimant were represented by Emmanuel Omohavwa from the law firm of Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa SAN & Co.
Omohavwa informed the court that following the intervention of the National Executive Council of the All Progressives Congress, the House of Assembly and the deputy governor were exploring an amicable resolution of the issues in controversy between them, which might have accounted for their absence in court.
The court was pleased with the information on settlement, and the judge directed that the parties should settle and resolve their issues and adjourned the case thereafter to November 6, 2023, for further proceedings and a report of settlement.
The plaintiffs in the suit delineated No.AK/362/2023 and filed on October 12, 2023, are contending that the Registry of Ondo State High Court did not comply with due process of law and the Rules of the Court of Appeal before fixing a date for the compilation of records of appeal in alleged breach of their rights; they, therefore, asked the court to halt the process of the said compilation of records of appeal.
Upon being served with the new suit, the deputy governor raised a counter claim, asking the court to stop the House of Assembly from continuing with the impeachment process, to nullify the notice of acts of gross misconduct raised against him by the House of Assembly, and to stop the Chief Judge and all judges and courts in Ondo State from extending the time within which the Chief Judge was to set up a panel of investigators beyond the seven days allowed by the Constitution, which has since expired.
