There was a mild drama at the Ondo state High Court on Thursday as an Akure based lawyer and right activist, Femi Emmanuel-Emodamori accused Justice Aderemi Adegoroye of bias.
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Emodamori is challenging the continued staying in office of the acting Chief Judge of Ondo state, Justice Temitayo Osoba, since her tenure in acting capacity had not been extended by the NJC or confirmed by the state assembly as required by the 1999 constitution.
Argument began when Justice Adegoroye said he will take the application for joinder and preliminary objections together at the same time.
At the resumed sitting on the case, lawyer to two of the defendants, the State Governor and the State House of Assembly, Mr Batife Phillips, had prayed the court to first take the preliminary objection he filed challenging the Claimant’s locus standi.
But, the legal practitioner who brought the suit, Mr Emodamori, told the court that since the application for change of counsel by Hon. Justice Osoba, the first Defendant in the case, has just been granted by the court today, the court should give parties enough time to complete all their pleadings.
Emodamori said that his application to join the National Judicial Council, NJC, as a party in the case should be taken before the defendants’ premilinary objection could be heard.
But Justice Adegoroye insisted that both the application for joinder and preliminary objection will be taken at the same time tomorrow, Friday.
Emodamori disagreed with the judge’s decision and argued that the time for parties in the suit to react and file their processes had not expired under the rules of the court, saying the rush by the court to take the objection violates his right to fair hearing.
Emodamori accused the judge of bias in the case.
In his reaction, Justice Adegoroye remarked that the only person Emodamori has not petitioned is a person who is not alive.
Justice Adegoroye thereafter adjourned the case till Friday to take the preliminary objection together with Mr Emodamori’s application for joinder.
He threatened to dismiss the suit if Emodamori does not appear.
This visibly infuriated Emodamori who told the Judge that he was free to dismiss the case because Friday will not be convenient for him.
He added that he did not ask for adjournment in the matter unlike other parties in the case.
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