AGAGU USES ACCUSED OF HIJACKING TRIBUNAL PROCEEDINGS

When it comes to the on-going electoral appeals in Ondo State Nigeria, there are endless fears of less than fair and scrupulous standard now being employed by parties making filings before the Justice G.M Nabaruma led tribunal. Specifically, there are allegations that the State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu may have successfully relied on his wife’s longtime friendship with the state Chief Judge Mrs. Gladys Olateru- Olagbegi to penetrate and influence some key officials of the tribunal.

Governor Agagu is alleged to have primed his wife, Mrs. Olufunke Agagu who a schoolmate to justice Olagbegi way back at Yejide Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State to impress what the administration wants from the tribunal. Sources are pointing to the novel approach of the chief judge in attending every function where Mrs. Agagu is usually present. But the chief spokesperson to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Olowolabi is denying such allegations saying “that is the usual and tiring stock in trade of losers like the Labor Party.”

Observers said that while Justice Nabaruma is impregnable, the secretary to the tribunal, Mrs. Rasheedat Rasheed may have the soft spot for entry by those who “want to compromise the hitherto impartial posture” of the tribunal. It is said that Mrs. Rasheedat often makes nocturnal visits to the Agagus at the Government House at Alagbaka.

The obvious oversight in allowing Mr. Idachaba, Counsel to the Ondo State Police command who was Rasheedat’s former colleague is one major weakness in the constitution of the tribunal. The lead counsel to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. I.A Adedipe, SAN, is alleged to have always exploited Idachaba’s closeness with Mrs. Rasheedat to pass across what the state Government “would want” from the tribunal.

Sources told pointblanknews.com that the recent decision by the Ondo State Judicial Service Commission to transfer administrative assistants from the tribunal was one “disturbing interference in due process” by Justice Olagbegi. It was alleged that Justice Olagbegi had felt that the amount of information leakages from the tribunal was no longer bearable. It was said that her decision not to transfer Mrs. Rasheedat, the Secretary of the Tribunal was deliberate as she was the vital link to the “hijacking” of the tribunal.

According to sources, somebody, “somewhere, somehow often make sure that the defendants, the Ondo State Governor, PDP, INEC and the Police often have their say and their way before appellants.

However, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Olowolabi, dismissed the entire allegations saying they only exist in the imagination of the Labor Party. He said the Labor Party is trying to win through the back door what it has no chance of winning before the tribunal.