In her suit numbered NICN/AK/09/2016, the plaintiff alleged that the whole disciplinary process leading to the termination of her appointment was tainted by malice, bias and denial of fair hearing by the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, who is the chairman of the commission, the commission itself, and the chief registrar of the state judiciary. She stated that the commission by the authorisation of the Chief Judge terminated her appointment in March 2016 on the basis that she attended the 2015 holy pilgrimage to Israel for which she was nominated by the Ondo State Government. She claimed that she obtained an oral approval of the Chief Judge upon a written application for permission on December 8, 2015 to embark on the trip and also visited Justice Kumuyi’s office to bid him farewell on December 9. She stated that on her return from the pilgrimage on December 21 and on resumption in office on December 23, she was surprised to receive a letter dated December 14, 2015 signed on behalf of the Chief Registrar informing her that her request for permission to attend the holy trip had been refused. Her statement of claim filed by her lawyer, Bolarinwa Lawal, stated in part, “The chief judge was intolerant to opposition and expression of contrary opinions which the claimant did on the occasion to his unveiled displeasure. “When the magistrates in Ondo State employment complained about the appointment of junior magistrates into positions higher than the existing magistrates, His Lordship, the Chief Judge, convened a meeting with all magistrates on January 15, 2014 and expressly stated that no magistrate had the right to complain about the placement and threatened to use any magistrate heard complaining as a scapegoat. “The Chief Judge esteemed the claimant as opposed to his leadership of the state’s judiciary and disapproved of the discharge of her duties as Chairman of the Ondo State branch of the Magistrates Association of Nigeria. “The claimant avers that on December 7, 2015, the claimant on behalf of other magistrates informed the Chief Judge of her colleagues’ agitation for the payment of their outfit allowance for 2015 since same had been paid to lawyers in the Ministry of Justice but the claimant observed that this did not go down well with the Honourable Chief Judge who immediately turned down the claimant’s appeal. “The Chief Judge already prejudged the outcome of the claimant’s query by stating on January 4, 2016 that a senior magistrate would be dismissed even though defendant’s plenary at which the claimant’s issue was to be treated would only hold on February 9, 2016, a month and five days after the Chief Judge of Ondo State had made a conclusion of misconduct against the claimant.” She prayed among others, “a declaration that the defendant’s purported refusal of the claimant’s application for pilgrimage leave as communicated in defendant’s letter dated December 14, 2015 is wrongful, an afterthought, unreasonable, inconsistent with the regular conduct of the claimant’s employment and is therefore null and void, of no effect whatsoever and liable to be set aside.” She also seeks “a declaration that the purported termination of the employment of the claimant by the defendant vide the defendant’s letter dated February 12, 2016 and letter dated March 7, 2016 is null and void, unlawful and of no effect whatsoever, same having been done in flagrant breach of claimant’s rights to fair hearing as enshrined in section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and being against the Civil Service Rules and the international labour best practices.” She also sought orders reinstating her to her position and directing the JSC to pay to her all arrears of salaries, allowances, benefits, entitlements or remuneration due to her from December 1, 2015 the date of the purported termination of her employment until judgment is delivered in the case. The case will come up for mention on June 22.]]>