Ekitigate: Aluko floors Fayose as court quashes arrest warrant.

Dr. Aluko

An Ado Ekiti High Court has quashed a warrant of arrest issued against a former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Dr. Temitope Aluko.

The state government through the Office of the Attorney General on February 3,2016, secured the bench warrant seeking Aluko’s arrest at an Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court presided over by Mr. Adesoji Adegboye.

The state government had approached the Magistrate’s Court to compel the police to arrest Aluko for alleged perjury after claiming that the election which brought Governor Ayo Fayose to power was rigged.

The Fayose administration averred that Aluko had committed perjury having earlier testified before the governorship election Tribunal that the election was free and fair.

But the state High Court presided over by Justice John Adeyeye set aside the bench warrant issued by the Magistrate’s Court following the hearing of a motion ex-parte filed and sworn to by Fayose’s aide, Lere Olayinka.

The case with Suit Number HAD/191M/2016 has Attorney General of Ekiti State as applicant while the Commissioner of Police is the respondent.

The application was seeking an order of the court granting leave for the applicant to apply for the issuance of prerogative writ of mandamus to compel the respondent to discharge its statutory duty to arrest and investigate Aluko for alleged perjury and be made to face trial as a result of the investigation.

But Justice Adeyeye, according to an Enrolment of Order obtained by our reporter on Friday nullified the bench warrant issued by the Chief Magistrate’s Court on ground that motion was not filed within three amounts allowed by law after Aluko had given evidence before the Tribunal.

The certified copy of the Enrolment of Order was issued at the High Court Registry, Ado Ekiti bythe presiding Judge on Thursday, 5th of May, 2016.

Justice Adeyeye ruled: “This application was brought pursuant to Order 40 of the High Court of Ekiti State Civil Procedure Rules.

“Order 40 Rules (4) provides as follows: an application for judicial review shall be brought within three months of the date of occurrence of the subject of application.

“Since Dr. Temitope Aluko was alleged to have committed the offence of perjury when he testified before the Election Petition Tribunal on 12/11/2014, the subject matter of the application is clearly a period of more than three months stipulated by Order 40 Rule (4).

“The application having been brought outside the period stipulated by the Rules of this Court, in my humble view, is incompetent. It should be dismissed. I hereby dismiss it.”