Fidelis David in Akure
A renowned constitutional and human rights lawyer, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, has joined the league of leading legal luminaries in Nigeria to condemn the recent controversies hovering over the leadership of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
The former chairman of the board of Ondo State Radio-vision Corporation, who made this known in a statement made available to journalists yesterday, said political players in Ekiti State should not allow selfish personal interests constitute a great disservice to the state enviable records and indelible marks of honour to national building and development of the likes of Aare Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun, Femi Falana, Dele Adesina, Dayo Akinlaja among others eminent citizens of the state.
The state House of Assembly had on November 15 conducted an election to choose a new Speaker following the demise of the erstwhile Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, on October 19, 2022. The election had two members of the Assembly contested and Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan won and was duly sworn in having polled 15 votes against 10 votes of Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba.
However, the new Speaker was reportedly impeached and suspended with six others even before he could start acting in his new role, and the candidate who had contested against him, Olubunmi Adelugba, was announced the new Speaker.
Ajulo, who hailed Babalola, Olanipekun, Falana and other notable legal professionals from the State following their collective stance on the allegedly controversial change of leadership in the Assembly, also described the event as “a glaring rape of democracy and an intentional violation of the rule of law.”
The top and accomplished legal minds
had on November 23 in a statement collectively described the event as “an act of illegality,” saying: “The election that produced Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba is unconstitutional and ridiculous.”
They noted that election into the position of the Speaker of House of Assembly dictates that the present occupant of the office must be accorded fair hearing before being removed from the office, saying the alleged suspension and stoppage of the salaries of the Speaker and six other members of the Assembly are misplaced, illegal, illegitimate, and null and void.
Ajulo described the position of these foremost lawyers as a just fight to strengthen democracy and uphold the laws of the country, saying impunity is detrimental to the development of any nation.
He said: ” You cannot underestimate the unmatchable contributions and services of these notable men to the development of legal profession and general growth of this country.
“I have had the privilege of working with almost all the six of them. They do not engage in frivolities and their integrity is intact. They possess enviable track records in the legal profession and national development that precede their names. All of them had, at one time or another perfectly resolved more complex national issue. So you do not expect them to fold their arms while this is happening at their backyard.
“It may be understandable if such a scenario had happened in some of the unsettled states of the country, but it is totally unthinkable to expect such in a peaceful, sophisticated, civilized, educated, egalitarian land that parades professors and notable men who have contributed to the development of this country in no small measure and don’t expect a strong reaction.
“I however commend these noble jurists for their collective stance on this sheer and gory impudence on the symbol of democracy in their state.”
