The Guardian reports that the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has described the appointment of Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN) as the chairman of Ekiti State Judicial Service Commission as illegal, saying the action was yet another constitutional breach by Governor Ayodele Fayose in his series of illegal acts in the last one year.
Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said in a statement on Tuesday that Adesina’s appointment was a violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which stated “no person can be appointed into the Judicial Service Commission twice”.
“Adesina was first appointed as a member of the Judicial Service Commission by Governor Kayode Fayemi in 2012, and against the law, he was again appointed by Governor Fayose as the Chairman of the commission in 2015,” Olatunbosun explained.
But the state Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Owoseni Ajayi in his reaction said the APC was wrong and failed to address its mind to the section 200 subsection 300 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Ajayi said the provision of the constitution was very clear that Adeshina can serve twice but forbids third term.
Section 200 (3) of the constitution reads, “No person shall be qualified for appointment to any of the bodies aforesaid, if, having previously been appointed as a member otherwise than as an ex officio member of that body, he has been re-appointed for a further term as a member of the same body”.
He said, “It is only somebody that has been re-appointed for the second term that cannot go for the third term. Adeshina is serving second term and the constitution is very clear about this”.
But Olatunbosun in his release said, “By the provision of Section 200(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, no person can be appointed to State Civil Service Commission, Judicial Service Commission or State Independent Electoral Commission twice.
“Barrister Adesina (SAN) was appointed by Fayemi to serve in Ekiti Judicial Service Commission, now Fayose has re-appointed him to the same office.
This is illegal and unconstitutional. This provision of the law is an offshoot of Sections 197,198 and 199 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He added that by this action, Fayose had breached the constitution for the umpteenth time, making him an alleged serial violator of the constitution.
The APC spokesman added that if Fayose could be excused for not being learned enough to understand the law or for not being properly briefed by his Attorney General before making the appointment, he regretted that the appointee, who is a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), ought to reject an appointment made in clear violation of the Nigerian Constitution.
“Fayose’s penchant for breaching the provisions of the constitution, which he sworn to uphold, is legendary. ”This is the same way he passed his 2015 budget by a seven-member House of Assembly out of 26 members, screened and passed three of his commissioners with the same illegal parliament.
“On the day of his inauguration on October 14, 2014, he announced the change of motto on the logo of Ekiti State from ‘The Land of Honour’ to ‘Fountain of Knowledge’ without recourse to the House of Assembly to repeal the law establishing Ekiti State Logo.
Fayose equally scrapped Local Council Development Areas without recourse to the House of Assembly, which created them while he also unilaterally scrapped the College of Commercial Agriculture established by the Assembly Law.
“He turned the Heroes Park established by the House of Assembly Law to another purpose without the Assembly repealing the law, while also cancelling the Social Security Law that provided N5000 monthly stipend to Ekiti poor adults without recourse to the Assembly.
“We urge Fayose to stop desecrating the constitution, which he has sworn to uphold to preserve the integrity of the nation’s supreme law,” Olatunbosun concluded.
Source: The Guardian