Osun CJ: Industrial Court Gives Final Verdict In Adepele’s Matter

Justice Peter of the National Industrial Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, has on Wednesday affirmed Justice Adepele Ojo as the Chief Judge of Osun State.

In a suit numbered NICN/IB/62/2023, the court granted all the reliefs sought by the Osun Chief Judge against the Osun State Government and Osun State House of Assembly, including an order of perpetual injunction restraining both the executive and legislative arms of government from removing her as the number one judicial officer in the state.

It would be recalled that in 2023, the Osun State House of Assembly passed a motion suspending Adepele Ojo as Chief Judge of the state; after which an acting Chief Judge, Justice Olayinka Afolabi was appointed in her place.

However, the Osun State Government later denied that it sacked Justice Ojo, after which Afolabi refused to turn up the next day for swearing in.

Justice Ojo had dragged the state government and State Assembly to National Industrial Court of Nigeria sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, and secured a restraining order barring Governor Ademola Adeleke from removing her as the substantial CJ of the state.

Earlier in November 2023, the matter made members of the Osun State chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union, JUSUN, embarked on an indefinite protest against the Justice Ojo continued stay in office as the state Chief Judge based on allegations that Justice Ojo mismanaged the affairs of the judiciary in the state. The strike was formally called off in March, 2024 after the intervention of the NJC, State government and JUSUN national body.