Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the deputy governor of Ondo State, has filed an appeal against the ruling of the Akure High Court in a case he filed to challenge his impeachment proceedings by the Ondo State House of Assembly.
Mr Aiyedatiwa’s appeal came after the State High Court on Tuesday struck out a suit instituted to stop his impeachment.
Justice O. Akintan-Osadebay, in his ruling, declined jurisdiction in the case to avoid conflicting verdicts between the Ondo High Court and the Abuja Federal High Court.
Ms Akintan-Osadebay ruled that it was a gross abuse of the court process to engage in “forum shopping, by instituting the same case in Akure and Abuja High Courts.”
Peoples Gazette had reported that on September 25, 2023, Mr Aiyedatiwa filed a suit with No, AK/348/2023 before the court to halt his impeachment by the State House of Assembly.
However, in a notice of appeal filed at the registry of the State High Court shortly after the ruling, Mr Aiyedatiwa raised five grounds of appeal against the decision of the judge.
The Gazette learnt that among the grounds of appeal is a complaint that the judge erred in law in combining the hearing of his application for an amendment together with the application of the House of Assembly challenging the jurisdiction of the court, which amounts to a denial of his right to a fair hearing.
The grounds of appeal also complained that the judge was wrong in holding that the case constituted an abuse of the process of the court as the parties and the subject matter of the case in Akure are different from those of the case in Abuja.
Mr Aiyedatiwa, however, requested the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling of the judge.
