Omirin: Fayose Should Rule With Fear Of God

Omirin: Fayose Should Rule With Fear Of God

Wednesday, October 15, 2014 11:06 am


Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, speaks with GBENRO ADESINA about the expectations of the House from the government of Ayodele Fayose

How do you see the attack on the judiciary which has paralysed activities of courts in the state?

It calls for concern. What happened in Ekiti State has never happened in the world except Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin; that was when we had a banana republic. What is happening in Ekiti State is a bad omen as far as democracy is concerned in Nigeria. We have three arms of government: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Causing mayhem in the court of law is a desecration of the temple of justice, which is not too good for our system. It is not found anywhere in the country. We should not be dragged back to the wilderness and dark ages.

I am appealing to the governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and his party that the court is the last hope of the common man. If you feel aggrieved go to the court and if the judgment doesn’t favour you, go to Court of Appeal, and if you are not still pleased with the judgment there, go to the Supreme Court. Look at what happened yesterday. The deputy governor of Adamawa was given a judgment in the court and he was sworn in immediately. That is what we call democracy. If we continue this way, anybody can go to court with his cutlass underneath his cloth and if the court doesn’t do what favours him, such a person can bring out his cutlass and cut the judge. This is why I think that the judiciary should take the assault on them very seriously and deal with the perpetrators in a proper way. I believe nobody is above the law. But what I have found out in Nigeria is that laws are made for some people and that some people are above the law and I don’t believe that should be.

How do we curb this kind of situation?

Judiciary needs to take its stand on this situation because if nothing is done, it will repeat itself in this state and other parts of the country because precedence has been set. If something concrete is not done to what happened in Ekiti State, I can assure you, forget justice in Nigeria because, whenever it happens in another state, Ekiti State will be used as a reference point.

•Dr. Adewale Omirin

•Dr. Adewale Omirin

What should be the role of the Federal Government in this matter?

Unfortunately, Federal Government has not made a statement on the judicial crisis in Ekiti State and that means consent. The President doesn’t see anything wrong in what the governor-elect and his party did in the state. I expected the Federal Government to have commented.

What is your position on the comment of Senator David Mark saying that no one can stop the inauguration of Fayose?

The Senate President’s statement was very unfortunate. He is a legislator and he knows what the rule of law says. He deals with the constitution every day. He makes amendments and repeals laws every day. I think he should know better. That kind of statement was not expected of him as the senate president of this country. Anything constitutional must be allowed to stay. Nobody is interested in Faysose not becoming a governor as long as the process that produces him is legitimate. The senate president has forgotten what the rule of law says when he made the statement and frankly speaking, it was an unfortunate statement from the senate president.


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