Osun judge ready to defend petition against Aregbesola

Gov. Aregbesola

Justice Oloyede Olamide Folahanmi of the Osun state judiciary, who wrote a petitioned against the State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola over alleged mismanagement of the state resources has expressed her preparedness to defend herself whenever she is called to do so by the state House of Assembly.

She said she did not have to take permission from anybody before she expresses her feelings over what she perceived to be going wrong and has affected the welfare of citizens in a state where she is a stakeholder. Responding to a question by a local radio station {AIT} in Osogbo, the judge also denied the allegation by the ruling All Progressives Congress {APC} that she was sympathetic to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party {PDP} stressing that her motive in the petition was not guided by partisanship but desire to challenge and correct perceived wrongdoing in the state.

The Guardian learnt yesterday that Justice Folahanmi had also fought a similar battle when she was the Chief Registrar {CR} in the state judiciary some few years back before she was later appointed a judge.

According to sources, the judge as the then CR had instituted a litigation against some top judicial officials in the state who allegedly attempted to put her into trouble over the budget meant for construction of a court room built by the administration of the ousted Governor Olagunsoye Oyinola that was later used as venue for the election petition tribunal that heard the petition between Aregbesola and Oyinlola..

The judge, sources said, allegedly initiated the litigation when it became apparent that some top judicial officers were making overtures and grumbling over the courtroom project for allegedly not being carried along in its execution..

The then CR was said to have stood her ground and resisted attempt by the officials in the judiciary to arm-twist her so that they could get some share of the budget, but Justice Olamide reportedly refused and told them that as the then accounting officer she would not open her eyes and allowed herself and career to be put at stake whenever thd Economic and Fin\ncial Crimes Commission { EFCC} came calling. Former governor Oyinlola who later appointed the then CR a judge was said to have heard about the litigation which caused serious stir in the state judiciary and moved in to reconcile the warring parties.

The Guardian also learnt that before her petition came to the public domain, the judge made consultation with some of her colleagues and other senior officers outside the state who allegedly saw her move as proper and courageous step.

Meanwhile a human rights group, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has warned the state authorities from reading partisan politics into the petition. The group in a statement yesterday also faulted the call for resignation of the judge by APC describing it as mischievous and uncalled for.

The rights group insisted that Justice Folahanmi should not resign her position as a Judge of the State High court, maintaining that the Judicial arm of government is not under the executive arm but an independent organ in a democratic setting. “We want to say here that asking Justice Folahanmi to resign is against the public outcry on what is going on in Osun state and we are ready to resist the evil agenda’’, the group said.

The Executice Secretary of the group,Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman said the stand of the APC on the issue kicks against the tenet of democratic governance and right to vent divergent view on an issue affecting the public and welfare of citizens.

He said, ‘’We recall that when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power in the state, the same Justice Oloyede took the PDP government of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola to court for denying her a position in the bench and promoting the Junior officers ahead of her.

“She confidently approached the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and everything is now history and the then PDP government was not calling her a member of the then opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) ‘’It has become the antics of the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the country, particularly, in Osun State to politicize any independent opinion against Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola’s bad governance.

“The party and its allies have been calling our group (CHRSJ) all sort of names but we are not deterred in our resolute to stand by and liberate the good people of Osun state from the anti-developmental government of Aregbesola. We want to say unequivocally that Mr. Rauf Aregbesola has destroyed the State beyond redemption.’’