How Aregbesola is ruling Osun State...Group Faults Solanke, Sagay over Comments against Justice Oloyede

How Aregbesola is ruling Osun State

...Group Faults Solanke, Sagay over Comments against Justice Oloyede

Today the Civil Society Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO) faulted Chief Folake Solanke and Professor Itse Sagay over their comments on the petition written by a serving judge in the state, Justice Olamide Oloyede, against the state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola.

The group described the statement by the two senior lawyers as a predetermined mere opinion over an issue of national importance and was made to save Aregbesola in the face of the world over his financial recklessness and mismanagement of the state commonwealth.

CSCEO noted that the statement adduced to both Solanke and Sagay was not only in bad taste but very unfortunate, anti-masses, ungodly, evil and uncalled for.

Besides, the group in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Adeniyi Sulaiman; the Deputy Secretary, Bukola Idowu and the Director of Mobilisation, Theophilus Ayodeji, accused the duo of a deliberate plan to incite the National Judicial Council (NJC) “being part of their efforts to satisfy Bola Tinubu and his godson, Aregbesola.”

According to the group, “What is their locus standi in this matter? Are they the only lawyers in Nigeria? The whole world knows that Prof. Sagay for years has been an All Progressives Congress (APC) members and Aregbesola’s consultant on legal matters. How much did they collect for this dirty job? Why is it that the statement was signed only by Sagay?

“We will appreciate if Solanke could come out and tell us that her name was put in the statement to cover-up the obvious partisanship of Prof Sagay. Solanke needs to do this in order not to drag the family’s hard earned name into the mud over frivolous statement.

“Are they saying that Justice Oloyede’s privilege as a judge overrides her right as a citizen of Nigeria as enshrines in the constitution particularly in a matter she was directly affected? First of all, Oloyede is a Nigerian and an Osun State indigene before being a judge.

“Paradoxically, the writer(s) of this statement were acting like judges, making judicial pronouncement on issues they had no locus standi except for the fact that they were engaged by Aregbesola.

“Now that they were using their privileges as SANs to constitute themselves into a court of law, did the woman judge not deserve a fair hearing? Are they supposed to close their eyes and looked the other side before pronouncing judgment on Justice Oloyede?

“In our view, both Sagay and Mrs. Solanke were supposed to be defenders in the temple of law but are now queuing behind a politician who had gagged the judiciary. Did they know that until few days ago, it was over a year that courts sat in the state? Why did they refuse to intervene in the comatose state of administration of the state judiciary?”

Furthermore the coalition urged Sagay and Solanke “to find out how their learned colleagues have been eating and sending their children to schools even when the governor never missed a month without collecting his N500million security votes while his wife has not failed in receiving her monthly basis N25 million as food allowances from our state lean purse.

“We recall here that this was the same governor who wanted to foist Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, a No. 33 judge from Lagos State judiciary on Osun State judiciary as the Chief Judge on the premise that he wanted him to become the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN). Today, judges in Osun State were denied their rights to be represented at the Appeal Court because the same Justice Oyewole was nominated by Aregbesola as a judge representing Osun State at the Court of Appeal.

   

“Did they know that Aregbesola stifled courts in this state by holding back their basic needs? Did Sagay and Solanke ever ask any of the judges in this state how they are faring? Maybe they need to know that the state courts are virtually empty with judges providing for themselves writing materials because that arm of government was refused its funds by Aregbesola who is ruling the state like an Emperor.

“This is a state where within a year over 366 retirees have lost their lives to avoidable deaths just because they cannot treat themselves.  For over eight months, the pensioners were denied their meager allowances.  Yet, the governor gets his security votes from the same Consolidated Account where pension funds are kept.

“Did they know that for three terms, pupils in both public primary and secondary schools in this state did not write any examination because Aregbesola cannot provide ordinary chalks to schools? Did they know that pupils in this state wrote the last WAEC examinations without stepping into classrooms for over five months?

"Will someone like Justice Oloyede keep quiet because those unfortunate pupils were children of the poor? We are sure that if the educational foundation of both Sagay and Solanke were like this, they wouldn’t have reached the peak of their careers.

“Like all true loving indigenes of the state, we are bold to stand with courageous Justice Oloyede who has risen at this time as our ‘Moremi’ to speak on behalf of the poor and the downtrodden.”