No Order To Provide Debt Information Granted By Osun CJ- Osun Govt.....Charges Journalists To Always Cross Check Facts Before Rushing To Press

The Government of Osun has described the report in some newspapers that the Chief Judge of Osun, ‎Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo has granted an Order compelling the state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to provide information about the debt profile of the State‎ as totally false.

Osun Government in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti charged journalists to always cross-check facts before going to the press.

Adeoti held that the fact that newspapers could go to press with such falsehood leaves much to be desired, saying it depicts the abysmal level into which journalism has sunk.

He pointed out that the order of Court granted the applicant at the last week Wednesday was the right to put the other party on notice which in this instance, the Governor of the State, and not an order granting the substantive reliefs of the Applicant.

The SSG stressed that a little due diligence by journalists would have revealed to them that the process leading to the report was made “ex-parte”, which means that the other party needs not be put on notice before such application for leave is heard by the court.

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He added that a simple inquiry on the proceeding from the Clerk of the Court would have made this fact known to the reporters instead of rushing to the press without adequate understanding.

Statement noted, "The captioned news item in several newspapers including The Vanguard, Nigerian Tribune, The Guardian and The Nation of Thursday, 16 June, 2016 wherein it was reported that the Chief Judge granted an Order of Mandamus compelling the State Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to provide information about the debt profile of Osun State and its defrayment modality among other orders is patently false.

"It is both sad and disheartening a journalist would go to press with a story without cross-checking the facts. The report referred to above is total falsehood. The applicant in the case is a well-known member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Ikeji Arakeji, who served in the last PDP administration in the state.

"The Order of Court granted him is the right to put the other party on notice, in this instance, the Governor of the State of Osun. It is not an order granting the substantive reliefs of the Applicant.

"While we are not surprised by this type of unprofessional Journalism because so many self-styled journalists have taken over the entire media space, what we are particularly miffed about is that some reputable media outfits could publish a story of this nature without getting their facts right".

Osun Government averred that the journalists in question are obviously acting in cahoots with some unscrupulous individuals to malign the person of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and by extension the Government of the State of Osun.

It noted that like so many others who have tried to do so in the past, such persons will continue to fail in their dubious enterprise.

The statement added that the administration of Aregbesola is a respecter of the Judiciary and as such would not do anything to undermine the judicial process in any way or shy away from defending the acts of government at any point it is called upon to do so.

It called on the management of the relevant newspapers to call the journalists in question to order so that the news organisations would not be subjected to retracting stories at all times.

REJOINDER
No Order To Provide Information Was granted by Osun CJ

The captioned news item in several newspapers including The Vanguard, Nigerian Tribune, The Guardian and The Nation of Thursday, 16 June, 2016 wherein it was reported that the Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, granted an Order of Mandamus compelling the State Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to provide information about the debt profile of Osun State and its defrayment modality among other orders is patently false. The fact that journalist can go to press with such falsehood leaves much to be desired. It depicts the abysmal level into which journalism has sunk into and is cause for serious concern.

It is both sad and disheartening a journalist would go to press with a story without cross-checking the facts. The report referred to above is total falsehood.

The applicant in the case is a well-known member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Ikeji Arakeji, who served in the last PDP administration in the state. The Order of Court granted him is the right to put the other party on notice, in this instance, the Governor of the State of Osun. IT IS NOT an order granting the substantive reliefs of the Applicant. The order of leave granted ex-parte is as stipulated by Order 40, Rule 3 of the Osun State High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2008 and is a mandatory condition precedent to bringing the application by the Applicant which application is yet to be filed and served on the Governor. A little due diligence by the reporters would have revealed to them that the process leading to his report was made “ex-parte”, which means that the other party need not be put on notice before such application for leave is heard by the court.

A simple inquiry on the proceeding from the Clerk of the Court would have made this fact known to the reporters. The Governor could thus not have been represented in court because he was never put on notice; it is by virtue of the leave granted by The Hon. Chief Judge on 15/06/2016 that the applicant can now put the Governor on Notice, this is contrary to the impression created that the Governor was not legally represented.

While we are not surprised by this type of unprofessional Journalism because so many self-styled journalists have taken over the entire media space, what we are particularly miffed about is that some reputable media outfits could publish a story of this nature without getting their facts right.

The journalists in question are obviously acting in cahoots with some unscrupulous individuals to malign the person of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and by extension the Government of the State of Osun, but like so many others who have tried to do so in the past, they will continue to fail in their dubious enterprise.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Administration of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola is a respecter of the Judiciary and as such would not do anything to undermine the judicial process in any way or shy away from defending the acts of Government at any point it is called upon to do so.

We also call on the management of the relevant newspapers to call the journalists in question to order.

Signed:
Alhaji Moshood Adeoti,
Secretary,
Government of the State of Osun