Petition Against Aregbesola: NJC Sacks Justice Oloyede Folahanmi For Judicial Misconduct

By Abdulrafiu Agboola

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has sacked an Osun State High Court Judge, Justice Oloyede Olamide Folahanmi for judicial misconduct.

NJC had set up a three-man fact finding panel to investigate Justice Oloyede following a petition written against her by the Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC), accusing her of judicial misbehavior and partisanship.

Justice Folahanmi had on June 19, 2015 sent a petition to the Osun State House of Assembly, calling for the impeachment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his Deputy, Titi-Laoye Tomori for alleged financial misappropriation.

The Osun State House of Assembly had, in its resolution on the Oloyede’s petition, also recommended Oloyede to be dismissed and be sanctioned by the NJC, having found her petition to be baseless.

Oloyede did not appear before the panel of enquiry set up by the Osun legislature to investigate her petition. She, however, sent her lawyer Mr Lanre Ogunleye (SAN) to represent her.

Acting on the recommendation of the panel, the NJC met on Thursday and Friday to consider several allegations of judicial misconduct by Oloyede, Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court and an unnamed judge from Benue State.

At the end of its deliberations, the NJC decided that Oloyede and the two other judges deserved to be dismissed for acts of gross misconduct.

Sources said the three judges were dismissed after an exhaustive investigation determined that they were guilty of various acts of grave misconduct.

The sources said Justice Yunusa had the worst case, with numerous petitions accusing him of receiving kickbacks and bribes. He was also accused of writing and delivering two different judgments in one case.