Justice Oloyede: CSO Alleges Financial Inducement over her Retirement

An Osun State based Civil Society Organization (CSO), the Civil
Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has
uncovered how the National Judicial Council(NJC) allegedly forged its
rule from 2014 Revised rules and regulation to 2016 Revised rules and
regulations to act the script of the Vice-President ,Yemi Osinbajo and
Governor Rauf Aregbesola to ensure the untimely exit of the
incorruptible Judge of the State High Court , Justice Olamide
Folahanmi Oloyede for writing a 39 pages Petition Letter to the State
House of Assembly, alleging Aregbesola of financial impropriety of
public funds, from the bench at all cost, calling for the disbandment
of NJC for its greediness and unprogresivism.

The group however called for immediate arrest and possible prosecution
of all the culprits involved in this another forgery saga in the
Nation’s Judicial Arm of government, alleging financial inducement of
the leadership and members of the National Judicial Council (NJC) with
its Panel led by Justice Ibrahim N. Auta, through a project tagged
“Operation Save Rauf Aregbesola Project(OSRAP)” where N4.7billion
were raised in June 2015 by Osinbajo, APC Governors and the ruling
party National Leader and former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, to perpetrate their dastard act.

The group then appealed to the men of good conscience to reject and
condemn the final verdict of the National Judicial Council(NJC) on
Justice Oloyede which it described as act of conspiracy, mis-carriage
of justice and misuse and abuse of power by the so-called elected
public office holders to subjugate the innocent masses of the
country, calling on President Mohammadu Buhari to urgently constitute
an independent and unbiased panel of inquiry into this matter that has
the capacity to rubbish his anti-corruption crusade.

Reacting to the NJC’s Acting Director of Information, Mr. Soji Oye on
behalf of its Chairman and Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN)Justice Mahmud
Muhammed which hinged its disciplinary action against Justice
Folahnami Oloyede on the Rules 1(1) and 5 of the 2016 Revised Code of
Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
while the 2014 Revised Judicial Discipline Regulations were invoked
when the unsubstantiated judicial misconduct was allegedly committed
by the incorruptible Osun jurist.

Addressing a Press Conference at the NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel,
Fagbewesa, Osogbo on Wednesday, the Chairman of the group, Comrade
Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman insisted that the apex body of bencher threw
the caution and sense of good judgment into the wind by succumbing
to the pressure and heavy money inducements from the State governor
and its agents to pervert the cause of justice for attending to the
July 2015 Petition Letter of the Aregbesola’s group under the aegis of
Osun Civil Societies Coalition(OCSC),which was signed by the trio of
Waheed Lawal, Sikiru Adebayo Bello and Ismail Uthman respectively,
seeking Oloyede dismissal from the bench.

According to the text of press briefing; “31st August, 2015, NJC
published ‘2014 Judicial Discipline Regulations’ which came to force
on 3rd November, 2014 in national dailies in which it clearly stated
that no petitions will be treated without first investigating the
integrity of the petitioners. This guideline subsisted throughout the
period during which the Justice I.N. Auta led panel was hearing the
depositions of the judge and members of the Civil Societies Coalition
for the Emancipation of Osun State on the petition by Waheed Lawal and
Co.

“September 2015 the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of
Osun State, our organization, wrote a counter-petition against the
Waheed Lawal petition in which five of our members swore to an
affidavit proving that Waheed Lawal and his co-travelers who signed
the petition on which the NJC based its verdict had criminal cases
hanging on them. Waheed lawal led the fake and unaccredited Osun
contingent that were sent by Mr. Rauf Aregbesola to disrupt the
peaceful November 16, 2013 Anambra State governorship elections.

“Sikiru Bello still has an attempted murder case over the Ataoja
Obaship tussle since 2010 on his neck while Ismail Uthman is a
permanent staff of Aregbesola owned local media outfit, “Osun
Defender” newspaper. January 25, 2016 to April 2016; Five members of
our coalition and one retired judicial officer appeared before the
Justice Ibrahim Auta panel to give evidence in defence of Hon Justice
Olamide Oloyede’s petition and prove beyond reasonable doubt that the
authors of the petition against her, are people of questionable
character who are on the payroll of Mr. Rauf Aregbesola. We also
affirmed that her action as a citizen of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria was in accordance with section 39 (1 & 2) of the amended 1999
constitution”.

It further stated that “We were very shocked to hear and read that
despite the fact that throughout the proceedings, ‘NO COUNTER
AFFIDAVIT’ was deposed to by the petitioners to refute the grave
allegations of criminality leveled against them before the AUTA led
panel, the panel went ahead to recommend the compulsory retirement of
an incorruptible, intelligent and courageous jurist, Hon. Justice
Olamide Folahanmi Oloyede. Most worrisome is the fact that the NJC at
its 77th meeting, which held on 15 July, 2016 under the Chairmanship
of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed ratified this
recommendation saying that ‘The allegations against the Hon. Judge
constitute a misconduct contrary to Rules 1 (1) and 5 of the 2016
Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.

“We put it to the leadership of the NJC that the so called 2016
Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria were masterminded by a cabal in the judiciary and executive
arm of government determined to ensure Oloyede’s exit from the bench
of Osun state. We maintain that Hon. Justice Oloyede and a few others
like her left in the nation’s judiciary represent the hope of justice
for the common man and as such we will not relent in using all
available sophisticated democratic and legal weapons locally and
internationally to redress this injustice in the temple of Justice”.

Sulaiman was quoting as saying that “I will like to go personal and
natural; the era of judicial conservatism has gone for good in Nigeria
and this development is a national embarrassment and unacceptable, for
the apex body of the bench( NJC) that should be live above board, to
be forged its rule to satisfy desire of certain individuals in
government of the day, it means, no hope for the common man on the
street again as justice is not for the people but for the highest
bidders. I want to challenge those involved in this manipulation of
justice against the heroine of Nation’s Judicial arm, Justice Olamide
Folahanmi Oloyede; including Yemi Osinbajo,Rauf Aregbesola,Suraju
Ajibola Bashiru,Waheed Lawal,Bola Ilori and host of others to come to
public and swear with the lives of their children that the NJC report
on Oloyede were not bought and manipulated . With this singular
action, National Judicial Council (NJC) should be disbanded for its
greediness and unprogressivism”.