Analyst and public commentator, Jide Babalola has lamented what he described as the travails of chief judges in Osun State.

He stated that the House of Assembly had, through a “kangaroo resolution”, flagrantly ordered the Chief Judge, Justice Olayinka Afolabi to ‘step aside’, “a coinage and procedure that is strange and unknown to the Nigerian Constitution, but which was introduced to the Nigerian political landscape by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.”

He recalled that the same CJ was appointed because of the state assembly’s “resolution”.

According to him, Justice Afolabi was erroneously appointed and announced as the Acting Chief Judge of the state.

“Being aware of the consequences of accepting such an offer in the circumstance, he cleverly refused to be sworn-in as the acting Chief Judge to avoid the sledge hammer of the National Judiciary Council (NJC),” he said.

Babalola also lamented that the travails of the current CJ of the State, Justice Adepele Ojo, started in 2018 after the Osun State Governorship election, especially during the legal fireworks at the Election Petition Tribunal filed by Senator Ademola Adeleke that was later won by the erstwhile Governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola.

He stated that the ordeal of the CJ is politically motivated and warned that such constant interference in the judiciary will impede justice administration and delivery.

Babalola, therefore, urged the Osun State government to grant full financial autonomy to the State judiciary instead of hounding and making frivolous allegations against the CJ.