FORMER governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, Friday said his decision to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the Appeal Court which removed him from office, was not a mere judicial gamble but was intended to inject sanity into the judiciary which he alleged has been bastardised by some unscrupulous judges.
Oni, who spoke at a thanksgiving service held at the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Tabernacle of Praise in Ifaki Ekiti, his country home, immediately after the verdict said he would not leave politics because of the loss he suffered at the Apex Court.
He said: "After the Appeal Court judgment in Ilorin, I felt disenchanted and I went to the Appeal Court to seek reversal because I felt the oppressors will be given more strength if they are not challenged.
"I was determined to pursue the case to the end and I thank God we have been able to achieve this because some people wished us dead along the line.
"You can see that since people like us had risen to challenge some unbridled tendencies in the judiciary, that judges and other judicial officers are now careful. They have seen that people can rise up and ask question if they feel aggrieved with their judgments.
"The suit was not filed out of desperation, but it was meant to infuse sanity in the system, so that Nigerians can have hope in the judiciary, the last hope of the common man."
In his reaction, Senator Ayo Arise, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in the state, posited that the seven-member Supreme Court justices acted on the side of caution and constitution, rather than 'entertaining anything novel, adding that the trial of the case could have afforded the apex court the opportunity to adjudicate and deliver a novel and landmark judgment.
According to him: "We have accepted the outcome of the verdict. We abide by it and it is law. Today, it did not work for us based on constitution, so we cannot fault the judgment", Arise said.
The PDP Chairman in the state, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe said: "We are law abiding citizens. We have accepted the outcome of the judgment. Who are we to say no when Supreme Court speaks?"
He said his party would comply with the verdict in the interest of the country.
For another former governor of the state and a chieftain of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Jide Awe, the Supreme Court has displayed unequivocally that the temple of justice is not meant for frivolous cases. Adebayo urged Oni to join Fayemi in building Ekiti people can be proud of.
But yet another former governor of the state, Mr. Ayo Fayose admonished his successor Oni not to be dismayed by the court ruling.
Fayose said: "Oni has fought a good fight and history will be on your side as a gallant and dogged fighter."
The Guardian