Ondo lawyer accuses judiciary of compromising justice

Wale Omotosho, a senior advocate of Nigeria, and an Akure-based legal practitioner, has accused the Ondo state judiciary of compromising the course of justice because of the intimidation of the executive arms of government.

Omotosho, who appeared for the former deputy speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Ogundeji Iroju in a case he filed over his purported removal, said it was the intimidation of the government that made the judiciary not to pay their judgement debt.

Recall that the Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure, had ordered the House of Assembly to reinstate Iroju Ogundeji as the assembly’s deputy speaker, and all his entitlements should be paid up-to-date, while his paraphernalia of office should be restored.

For refusing to pay the entitlements, Ogundeji, through his lawyer, had filed a garnish order against the account of the government.

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The court, however, presided over by Justice David Kolawole, on Wednesday, said the order had affected not only the executive arms of government but the judiciary hence the need to strike out the garnish order.

Speaking with journalists on the development, Wale Omotosho, counsel to the embattled lawmaker, said; “judiciary is being punished because one of the courts ordered a temporary order against the government account and because of that issuance of temporary order against the government account, the court now said that it had been called upon by the chief judge that because of the the garnish order, their running grants have been stopped.

Ogundeji, while speaking with journalists, said, “The Ondo assembly and even the judiciary of every state in Nigeria depends on the executive arm for the payment of salaries and the running of their affairs like we have in Ondo State here.

“So, if Ondo State House of Assembly did not have such amount of money that was requested for, then we have the right under the law to garnish the account of the Ondo State government that pays directly to Ondo State House of Assembly which we have done in this case.

“But the court today (Wednesday) refused that our request be attended to, that it didn’t believe that our money should be paid. Even when the judge himself admitted that the running grants of the judiciary was withheld by the Ondo State government,” he said.