The Court of Appeal in Abuja has rejected an application by the Ondo State House of Assembly and its Speaker, seeking an accelerated hearing of their appeal challenging the Federal High Court’s order halting the planned impeachment of Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
In a ruling delivered yesterday, a three-member panel of the appellate court deemed the Assembly’s application to abridge the time for the appeal hearing as lacking merit. The court held that the Assembly failed to present exceptional circumstances justifying such an expedited process.
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The Assembly had initially filed the application on October 20, aiming to shorten the time for respondents to file their briefs. Simultaneously, they filed another application to extend the time to compile and transmit the record of the appeal.
During a November 3 hearing, Aiyedatiwa’s lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), contested the application to extend time, arguing that court rules did not permit appellants to seek an extension on behalf of the court’s registrar. This official’s duty is originally to compile the record.
In response to Adegboruwa’s objection, the Assembly withdrew the application regarding the record compilation. On the same day, they proceeded to argue the application to abridge time for respondents to file their briefs, an argument Aiyedatiwa’s lawyer also opposed.
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Adegboruwa asserted that the withdrawal of the application to extend time for record compilation returned the appeal to the normal procedural course under the court’s rules. Consequently, he argued, there was no basis for seeking an expedited timeline—an argument the appellate court upheld in its recent ruling.
The appeal, filed on October 3 by the Ondo Assembly and its Speaker, challenges orders made ex-parte by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court on September 26.
These orders restrained the Ondo State Governor, Chief Judge, House of Assembly, Speaker, and others from proceeding with the impeachment of Aiyedatiwa until the determination of a pending motion on notice for interlocutory injunctions.
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