BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Osun State Government has warned an Ibadan-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yomi Aliu, to desist from dragging the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Adepele Ojo, into his political agenda, saying there is no rift between the Executive and Judiciary in the state.
Aliu had alleged that the state government was plotting to retire Ojo prematurely.
Reacting in a statement made available by the spokesperson for the state governor, Olawale Rasheed, the state government refuted the claim, saying Aliu raised a false alarm and that he was an agent of the All Progressives Congress.
Rasheed said Aliu had turned himself into an unsolicited trumpet and a puppet of the Osun State Chief Judge, adding, “It is not surprising of Mr. Aliu to have cooked up a false story. It is customary of him the same way he did during the Osun governorship election petition. He had raised a fake alarm and unjustifiable insinuation that there was a serious security threat in the state. This nonetheless turned out to be unfounded.
“It is unfortunate that a supposed learned senior lawyer can go that low on the path of propaganda and unnecessary sensation without exercising any iota of decorum and dignity.”
It further stated, “For the sake of clarity, the present administration enjoys a very warm and harmonious relationship with the Judiciary as against the pseudo acrimony being peddled by Mr. Aliu.
“Governor Adeleke is paying special attention to the welfare of judicial officers in the state as against the ridicule to which the past administration unleashed on the judges by irregular non-payment of their arrears of allowances and by not attending to the pecuniary benefits of the retired judges.
“Members of the public need to be informed that there is no controversy on the processes of disengagement or otherwise even with respect to the old and new law on the retirement age for judges of superior courts. All insinuations in the hatchet job are false and figments of imagination of the propagandist.
“Governor Adeleke as a due process leader is committed to full observance of the law without fear or favour and with due reference to impartial application for retirement or extension of tenure of public officials.
“Mr. Aliu is cautioned on his constant false alarm and his phantom claim of constitutional crisis in Osun when there is none at all. The Judicial Service Commission is an executive body and its staff are appointees and employees of the executive. Therefore, it is indecent of Mr. Aliu to unduly meddle in the running of affairs of the government.
“The controversial senior lawyer is known for propaganda and undue sensation as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is therefore to be ignored and not given any serious attention.”
“He is also warned not to drag our noble Chief Judge into his infamous political agenda. In Osun state, all arms of government are in deep harmony for the good of the state,” the statement added.