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The Ondo State House of Assembly has dragged a Federal High Court Judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, before the National Judicial Council (NJC) for allegedly compromising his office and violating the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Relatedly, the Assembly issued a fresh directive, on Tuesday, to the state Chief Judge, Olusegun Odusola, to immediately set up a seven-man panel to investigate Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over allegations levelled against him.

The Assembly described an ex-parte injunction granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on September 26 restraining the state legislature from impeaching Aiyedatiwa, as “unconstitutional and clearly malevolent”.

It resolved that Nwite should be investigated for alleged “abuse of ex parte injunction and/or his office to gratify the Ondo State Deputy Governor, and if found liable, the National Judicial Council should mete out the appropriate sanction against him as required by the dictates of judicial fidelity and the protection of the rule of law and our nascent democracy.”

In a petition addressed to the NJC chairman, and signed by Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, the legislature accused Nwite, who made the order, of allegedly compromising his office and violating the constitution.

The lawmakers alleged that Nwite heavily compromised his office to grant an unconstitutional ex parte application in favour of the embattled deputy governor.

The petition partly read, “As the Speaker of the 10th Ondo State House of Assembly, and on behalf of the entire members of the House of Assembly (hereinafter referred to as ‘ODHA’), I write your lordship to formally lodge a complaint against Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, for compromising his office and violating the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), ignoring judicial decisions of the appellate courts and extant Practice Directions and/or relevant Circulars of the Federal High Court, to grant an unconstitutional, clearly malevolent, and ostensibly procured ex parte order on 26th September, 2023 in Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1294/2023 restraining ODHA as an arm of government from exercising its constitutional powers.”

Oladiji recalled, in the petition, that on “September 2023, Eleven (11) members of the Ondo State Assembly presented a notice of allegation(s) of gross misconduct (impeachment notice) against the deputy governor of Ondo State, His Excellency, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, to me as the Speaker, in line with Section 188(2) (a) & (b) of the Constitution. I hereby attach a copy of the notice as Annexure ODHA.

“As your lordship would observe, annexure ODHA contains 14 allegations, many of which relate to alleged financial improprieties running into hundreds of millions of naira.

“My Lord, as a ranking member of ODHA and based on the benefit of a detailed legal advice, which the House has sought on the subject matter, I know as a fact that impeachment is a purely legislative affair.

“Section 188 (10) of the constitution clearly provides that: ‘No proceedings or determination of the House of Assembly or an Impeachment Panel or any matter relating to such proceedings or determination shall be entertained or questioned in any court.

“However, in spite of the above provisions of the constitution, the deputy governor approached Justice Emeka Nwite with an ex parte application on 21st September, 2023, just a day after I received Annexure ODHA1 (the notice of allegations of gross misconduct) against him at the plenary of the House, to procure an order to stop the legislative process of his impeachment.

“My lord, as a Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite knows or ought to know that there are extant Circulars and Practice Directions prohibiting Federal High Court Judges from granting ex parte injunctions in political cases and/or taking cases that did not originate from their immediate Judicial Divisions.”

Meanwhile, the Assembly issued a fresh directive to the state Chief Judge to set up a seven-man panel to investigate Aiyedatiwa following the allegations levelled against him. It accused the deputy governor of failing to respond to the notice of allegations of gross misconduct against him within seven days.

Oladiji, who gave the directive during plenary, emphasised that the constitution stipulated that the Assembly should wait for seven days for the deputy governor to respond, which had now lapsed.