EKITI RERUN: THROW OUT ONI'S SUIT, FAYEMI TELLS APPEAL COURT

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI
ADO-EKITI - Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has asked the Appeal Court to strike out the suit instituted by the former governor of the state, Engr Segun Oni against the judgement of appeal court, saying the 'court lacks jurisdiction to entertain Oni's suit.'

Oni had recently gone to the Appeal Court in Ado Ekiti, five months after he was removed from office, urging the court  to review judgement which nullified his election.

He had argued that Fayemi obtained the judgement based on the close affinity between  some of his counsel and the President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.

However, Fayemi described Oni's suit as an  'after thought and an attempt to subject the judges that sat on the appeal to an unwarranted odium and opprobrium'.

In his notice of preliminary objection and counter-affidavit against Oni's motion on notice filed at the Court of Appeal, Ado-Ekiti  yesterday, the governor stated that last year's judgement   'reflects the wishes and aspirations of Ekiti people who voted him to power'.

He argued that Oni's return to Appeal Court had portrayed him (Oni) as a 'bad loser who is not willing to honourably accept defeat after he (Oni) had gone to church for thanksgiving service for a 'successful' tenure of office.

Fayemi averred that his appeal against Oni's election was successful after it was allowed by the Court of Appeal which set aside the majority  judgment delivered by the lower tribunal and affirmed the minority judgment, 'after a holistic consideration of evidence led by all parties and submission of their counsel'.

He deposed that it beats his imagination that Oni and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, could concoct lies against the learned justices that heard his appeal 'in a desperate bid to desecrate the Judiciary and achieve their worthless aspirations to reclaim their purported mandate.'

The governor pointed out that Oni's motive was to harass, annoy and oppress him and his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and also to cause unnecessary distractions, noting that Oni's claim that he was denied justice was spurious as he was given sufficient time and opportunity to prosecute his case.