Aladejana kicks over nomination for Ekiti CJ

One of Ekiti State’s longest-serving judicial officers, Justice Babajide Aladejana has raised alarm over his exclusion from the shortlist of nominees forwarded to the National Judicial Council, NJC, for appointment as the next Chief Judge of Ekiti State.

The exclusion, according to him, not only contravenes judicial seniority convention but also echoes a painful chapter of past injustice that saw him suspended from office for 16 years.

In a statement, Justice Aladejana decried what he described as a “worrisome outcome” after the Ekiti State Judicial Service Commission, JSC, forwarded names to the NJC based on the preference of Governor Biodun Oyebanji. He said the governor’s choice of Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, who was appointed to the bench nearly 12 years after him, raises constitutional and ethical questions. According to Aladejana, the state’s justification for his exclusion — that he was posted to Court 3 while Justice Ogunmoye sits in Court 2 — is “unconstitutional, against convention and common sense.”

He argued that courtroom assignment is merely an administrative matter and not a determinant of judicial seniority. “The Ekiti State government’s position that I am junior because I resumed in Court 3 is both misleading and unjust. It is shocking that after enduring 16 years of suspension based on a disputed NJC recommendation, I am once again being sidelined — this time from my rightful place in the hierarchy,” he said.

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Justice Aladejana was suspended in 2006 following his alleged involvement in the controversial impeachment of former Governor Ayodele Fayose. The NJC at the time recommended his retirement, but the Ekiti State Government neither implemented the recommendation nor replaced him permanently. Instead, the government continued to appeal for his reinstatement until it was approved in 2023.

“I was eventually reinstated after 16 years, during which the state government continued to treat me as a member of the judiciary. They sent me abroad for studies, appointed me to chair a judicial commission of inquiry on chieftaincy matters, and later made me Chairman of the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission.”

Justice Aladejana added that his posting to Court 3 upon reinstatement was made by the late Justice Oyewole Adeyeye, a judge who was appointed six years after him. “He explained that it was for administrative convenience. I did not contest it because I had just returned after a long absence,” he explained.

In what he views as a troubling parallel, Aladejana noted that the same alleged infraction that led to his 16-year suspension — serving as Acting Chief Judge without constitutional authority — is now being echoed in the appointment of Justice Ogunmoye as acting CJ. “It’s an ironic twist. The same issue for which I was made to suffer for over a decade is now being repeated, yet I am the one being further punished,” he said.

Reported by Naijaparrots.com