- An Ado-Ekiti High Court on has refuted Former Ekiti state governor Dr Kayode Fayemi’s application to stop judicial probe his government
- Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the court he has no power to grant the application for interim injunction
An Ado-Ekiti High Court on Tuesday, July 24, refuted an application filed by Dr Kayode Fayemi, the former Ekiti state governor and current Minister of Mines and Steel Development, to stop the judicial panel setup to probe his administration.
Fayemi said that the court order the state government not to probe his four-year tenure pending the hearing of a preliminary objection on the court’s jurisdiction, PM News reports.
NAIJ.com gathered that Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, refused Fayemi’s request for an interim order since the defendants had filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the competence of the court to hear the substantive suit.
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Justice Ogunmoye however, granted Fayemi’s other prayer for an accelerated hearing of the suit before it.
He ruled that the substantive suit will now be taken together with the defendant’s preliminary objection on July 31.
While citing many authorities to buttress his position, Ogunmoye held that the issue of court’s jurisdiction over any matter was paramount and fundamental to any suit before the court, hence it should be determined so that its adjudication would not be rendered futile.
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He said: “I have no power to grant the application for interim injunction before me but justice of the matter demands that it will be given an accelerated hearing. The motion is hereby refused.''
He, therefore, adjourned the suit to July 31, for definite hearing.
On his part, Fayemi’s counsel, Chief Rafiu Balogun, said the court was fair to both parties by refusing the interim injunction and granting his client’s prayer for accelerated hearing of the substantive suit.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported the minister of solid minerals development, Kayode Fayemi, set to be probed by a judicial commission of inquiry set up by the Ekiti state government to look into all financial transactions that occurred when the minister serves as governor of the state.
Watch this NAIJ.com TV Video of former NNPC group managing director Andrew Yakubu in court over fraud allegations: