News
Sanction Of Ekiti Monarch: Alaafin Of Oyo Writes Gov. Fayemi
The Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, has written to the Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, over a recent query sent to Monarchs in the State.
Recall that the State government issued “administrative letters” to no fewer than 11 first-class traditional rulers over alleged non-cooperation with government and leadership of the state traditional council.
The memo titled “Re-Absence from State Functions and Council of Traditional Rulers’ Monthly Meetings,” was issued to the affected monarchs, late on Wednesday. They were given 72 hours to explain themselves.
The letter accused the monarchs of refusing to make themselves available at both state functions as well as monthly meetings of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, for about eight months, since August 2019.
The letter was signed on behalf of the government by the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Chieftaincy Affairs, A. O. Adeoye.
The three-paragraph letter, addressed to each traditional ruler, reads: “It has come to the attention of Mr Governor that Your Royal Majesty has not been attending the monthly statutory meetings of the State Council of Traditional Rulers and state official functions since August 2019.
“Your conspicuous absence at the council meetings and state official functions, without any excuse or justification is considered inimical to the proper administration of the chieftaincy institution you represent.
“Therefore, Mr Governor has directed that Your Royal Majesty should forward your representation for this inaction, through this office within 72 hours on the receipt of this letter.”
The cold war between the affected traditional rulers and the governor started about eight months ago when the governor appointed the Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Ajibade Alabi, as the new Chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers.
The development did not go down well with the affected rulers, who considered the appointee junior to them and not deserving of the office.
The group of traditional rulers, in showing their grievance, challenged the appointment in court and also vowed not to cooperate or attend any meeting or function where the appointee is present or presides.
Meanwhile, Governor Kayode Fayemi, on Thursday, said he had no plans to dethrone any of the traditional rulers served with administrative letters.
He said it was a mere “administrative letter”, and not a query, to explain why they had continually absented themselves from state functions and Traditional Rulers Council meetings within 72 hours.
The Alaafin in his letter dated March 12, warned the state government to desist from meddling into the affairs of the traditional rulers.
He said he was writing on behalf of seven paramount royal fathers in Yoruba land.
“Specifically, this is in respect of the composition of the Council of Obas and Chiefs in the State. Let me start by saying that the sacrosanct of Pelupelu that grades the sixteen Crowned Obas in Ekiti Land is not in doubt. Suffice to say Your Excellency that in any human society and more so in Yoruba Land, order of hierarchy and seniority are of vital consideration in position placement.”
In the copy of the letter obtained Mr Adeyemi condemned the composition of the Council of Obas and Chiefs in the state.
“From time immemorial, Obaship Leadership in Ekiti Land had been within the sixteen Obas without any dispute or quarrel among them and indeed to the admiration of other Yoruba Kingdoms.”
“It is on this basis that we will advise against any attempt to treat traditional institutions in Yoruba Land with levity and to avoid any attempt of importing any sub-culture of traditional degradation into Yoruba Land,” the letter read in parts.
The Oyo monarch also noted that the actions of Mr Fayemi amount to subjudice since the matter is pending before a court.
“Since the case is still in court, we will not want to comment further on it as a law abiding citizen. I, however, expected that your Excellency waits till the end of the court process before acting on the matter,”
“Finally, as fathers, we should like to advise Your Excellency to tread softly any relationship with Traditional Institution in the name of Oduduwa and our other Ancestors in Yoruba Land. Let us employ diplomacy to settle this issue. We have the mechanism of conflict resolution in ways of our ancestors,” the Oyo monarch concluded.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2024 Edo election, Asue Ighodalo, has threatened to sue the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jarrett Tenebe, over alleged defamation.
In a letter from the legal firm Banwo & Ighodalo, the PDP gubernatorial candidate accused Tenebe of making false and damaging statements in a widely circulated video against him.
Gatekeeper recalls that Tenebe, while reacting to the gaffe of Governor Monday Okpebholo during the presentation of the 2025 budget to the state assembly, had accused Ighodalo of stealing billions.
Governor Okpebholo, who appeared before the Edo State House of Assembly on Tuesday, had struggled to read the total sums of the state budget estimate.
The governor, after several attempts to pronounce the figure, said it was confusing him, a comment that drew laughter.
The governor’s gaffe subsequently trended on social media platforms, with many users expressing diverse opinions.
In the video Tenebe released about the incident, he said Obaseki and Ighodalo would not have made such a mistake because they had stolen billions before.
Responding to the circulated video, Ighodalo gave Tenebe seven days to issue a full retraction, a public apology, and assurances that no further defamatory comments would be made.
Activist politician, Omoyele Sowore on Friday described Nigeria as a paradise for thieves.
Sowore was commenting on the reaction within the courtroom of the Federal High Court in Abuja, after former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, was granted bail.
The Abuja Federal High Court had granted Bello bail in the sum of N500 million with two sureties in like sum.
This was after Bello pleaded not guilty to the 19-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Bello has been slammed with an N80 billion money laundering charge.
When the case was called for hearing, EFCC’s counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, notified the court of the intention of the prosecution to withdraw an earlier application for abridgement of the earlier date fixed for arraignment.
He said the application had been overtaken by events. Bello’s counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, did not object and Justice Emeka Nwite accordingly granted the request.
After Bello had taken his plea, Daudu made clarifications on the reasons he had not been in court during the previous hearings.
Eventually, Justice Nwite granted the former governor bail in the sum of N500 million.
Reacting, Sowore lamented that Bello became a hero within the courtroom after the judge granted him bail.
Posting on X, Sowore wrote: “Yahaya Bello is granted bail and is the instant hero in the courtroom! Just loot enough to bankrupt the poor and enrich the elites; you then become the hero of the poor and the rich. NIGERIA is a paradise for thieves.”
President Bola Tinubu, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, have been dragged before a Federal High Court in Abuja over the alleged unlawful removal of Justice Danladi Umar as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
The President and 10 others were sued by two civil society groups, Community Rescue Initiative and Toro Concerned Citizens Relief Foundation, as well as an Abuja based lawyer, Comrade Nasir Bala.
The three plaintiffs are praying the court to restrain the Clerk of the National Assembly from transmitting to Tinubu, the concurrent resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives which removed Umar as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
They are also praying the court to stop the President from giving effect to the resolution of the two chambers of the National Assembly, on the grounds that clear provisions of the law, especially the 1999 Constitution, were not followed in the purported removal of the CCT boss.
Among others, the plaintiffs are seeking seven declarative reliefs against the President and the other defendants.
The suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1796/2024, was instituted on behalf of the plaintiffs by Mahmoud M. Maidoki Esq., A.G Salisu Esq., Jibrin S. Jibrin Baq., and Abubakar S. Idris Bag.
In faulting the action of the National Assembly, the plaintiffs asked the Federal High Court to determine the following:
“Whether by virtue of the provisions of Sections 1(1) and (3) , 6(5), 153 (1) (e) & (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as Paragraph 13 (a) (vii) and (b) of the Third Schedule thereof, the purported removal of the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the 4th Defendant is illegal, void, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever same having been made pursuant to the provisions of section 157 (1) of the 1999 Constitution or any other law for that matter.
“Whether by virtue of the provisions of Sections 1(1) and (3) , 6(5), 153 (1) (e) & (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as Paragraph 13 (a) (vii) and (b) of the Third Schedule thereof, the purported concurrence by the 6” Defendant with the decision/resolution of the 4 Defendant purportedly removing the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal taken at 4th Defendant’s plenary of the 20th November 2024 or any other date for that matter which said concurrence was taken at the 6th Defendant’s Plenary of 26th November 2024 is illegal, void, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever same having been founded on a faulty legal foundation and in breach/violation of section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau & Tribunal Act and paragraph 17 (3) of the 5th Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Whether by virtue of the provisions of Paragraph 17 (1) of the 5th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Section 20 (1) and (4) of the Code of Conduct Bureau & Tribunal Act and the subsistence of the occupation of the office of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal by Hon. Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar, the purported appointment and subsequent confirmation of the 10th or 11th Defendants into the same office by the 1st and 4th Defendants, respectively, is illegal, void, unconstitutional and of no effect same having been done in clear breach of the applicable provisions of the 1999 Constitution (Supra) and the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act (Supra).
“Whether the purported removal of the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the person of Hon. Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar as done by the 4th Defendant based on the motion and submission founded by distinguished Senator Opeyemi Bamidele during its plenary of 20th November 2024 and the subsequent concurrence by the 6th Defendant on 26th November, 2024 at its plenary has occasioned/amounted to a breach of Section 36(1) and Section 6 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as the allegations of misconduct among others which formed the basis of the resolution/decision in issue has not been proved/established in the manner prescribed by law.”
The plaintiffs noted that if the above questions are answered in the affirmative, the court should declare
that by virtue of the provisions of Sections 1(1) and (3), 6(6), 153 (1) (e) & (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as Paragraph 13 (a) (vii) and (b) of the Third Schedule thereof, the purported removal of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the 4th Defendant is illegal, void, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever, same having been made pursuant to the provisions of section 157 (1) of the 1999 Constitution or any other law for that matter.
Other declarations and orders sought by the plaintiffs are:
“A DECLARATION that by virtue of the provisions of Sections 1(1) and (3), 6(6), 153 (1) (e) & (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as Paragraph 13 (a) (vii) and (b) of the Third – Schedule thereof, the purported concurrence by the 6th Defendant with the decision/resolution of the 4th Defendant purportedly removing the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal taken at 4tj Defendant’s plenary of the 20th November 2024 or any other date for that matter which said concurrence was taken at the 6th Defendant’s Plenary of 26th November 2024 is illegal, void, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever same having been founded on a faulty legal foundation and in breach/violation of section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau & Tribunal Act and paragraph 17 (3) of the 5® Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“A DECLARATION that by virtue of the provisions of Paragraph 17 (1) of the 5th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Section 20 (1) and (4) of the Code of Conduct Bureau & Tribunal Act and the subsistence of the occupation of the office of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal by Hon. Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar, the purported appointment and subsequent confirmation of the 10th or 11th Defendants into the same office by the 1st and 4th Defendants, respectively, is illegal, void, unconstitutional and of no effect same having been done in clear breach of the applicable provisions of the 1999 Constitution (Supra) and the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act (Supra).
“A DECLARATION that the purported removal of the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the person of Hon. Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar as done by the 4’th Defendant based on the motion and submission founded by distinguished Senator Opeyemi Bamidele during its plenary of 20th November 2024 and the subsequent concurrence by the 6th Defendant on 26th November, 2024 at its plenary has occasioned/amounted to a breach of Section 36(1) and Section 6 (6) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as the allegations of misconduct among others which formed the basis of the resolution/decision in issue has not been proved/established in the manner prescribed by law.
“AN ORDER restraining the 7th Defendant from communicating the resolution’ of the 4th and 6th Defendants removing the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in person of Hon. Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar to the 1st Defendant the removal having been done without following the due process of law.
“AN ORDER restraining the 8th and 9th Defendants from considering any person including the 10th or 11th Defendant for appointment by the 1st Defendant and subsequent confirmation by the 4th and 6th Defendants during, the subsistence of term of office of Hon. Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar.”
Meanwhile Justice James Omotosho, who is to adjudicate in the matter, has ordered that the process in respect be served by substituted means through pasting at the notice board of the court, the APC secretariat and Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The court further adjourned the suit to January 14, 2025, for hearing.
Alleged defamation: Ighodalo threatens to sue Edo APC Chairman
Yahaya Bello: Nigeria a paradise of thieves – Sowore
Tinubu, AGF, Akpabio dragged to court over removal of CCT chair, Danladi Umar
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