Ekiti State Governorship:

Nigeria's Supreme Court To Decide Ekiti Governorship Case In May. Nnamdi Felix / Abuja. The Supreme Court on Monday fixed 31st May, to deliver judgment on an appeal instituted by former governor of Ekiti state, south west Nigeria, Mr. Segun Oni, wherein the former governor is asking the apex court to set aside an Appeal Court's judgment which removed him from office and to declare him the governor of the state. A full panel of the court presided by Justice Tanko Mohammed fixed the date after parties in the appeal adopted their briefs In his submission, Mr. Oni's lawyer, Mr. Joe Kyari Gadzama, a senior advocate of Nigeria urged the court to set aside the 15th October, 2010  judgment of the appellate court which sacked his client on ground of alleged likelihood of bias. He contended that the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Isah Salami who constituted and presided over the panel and also  wrote the judgment of that sacked Segun Oni from office had close affinity with Senator Bola Tinubu the alter ego of Governor Fayemi's party, the Action Congress of Nigeria ACN. "Bias or likelihood of it makes a decision a nullity and is therefore a sufficient ground for the lower court to set aside its own judgment." The senior advocate further argued. However, in a preliminary objection, Governor Fayemi, through his counsel, Mr. Olusola Baiyashea, also a senior advocate of Nigeria, argued that the apex Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain Oni's appeal. The Ekiti state Governor averred that going by the reports of the National Judicial Council, NJC, which investigated the allegation, Justice Ayo Isa Salami and other judges of the appellate court which sat over the matter have been exonerated and hence the allegation had become irrelevant to the instant case. He also argued that the reliefs sought by the the ousted former governor emanated from the governorship election tribunal which the Court of Appeal is the final bus stop and contended that the apex court has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal since it emanated from the decision of the Court of Appeal in Governorship election petition of Ekiti State arising from the Governorship election of 2007 to which Section 246 (3) of the 1999 Constitution is applicable. He concluded by categorically insisted that there is no valid appeal before the apex court.