Court of Appeal stays execution of judgment on sacked lawmaker

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ado Ekiti on Thursday ordered a stay of execution of judgment of the Federal High Court which sacked, Musa Arogundade, as member of Ekiti State House of Assembly.

The court also restrained the Speaker, Mr Kola Oluwawole, from swearing in Mr Toyin Obayemi, pending the determination of the appeal by the embattled legislator.

In his ruling, Justice P.O. Elechi, also restrained  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from recognising Obayemi as its candidate for the 2015 poll.

Elechi also ordered parties in the suit to maintain status quo pending the determination of the appeal.

Arogundade had asked the court to stay the execution of the judgment of the lower court delivered on July 4, 2016, by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of an Ado Ekiti Federal High Court.

He also urged the court to restrain the Speaker from inaugurating Obayemi as the lawmaker representing Ado Constituency 1 pending the determination of the appeal.

He joined Obayemi, Independent National Electoral Commission, Odunayo Talabi  and PDP, as respondents in the appeal.

Counsel to the Appellant, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said the verdict had “purified the stream of justice”.

“The hierarchical structure of our legal system must be preserved; once a higher court has spoken, the lower court should blow the muted trumpet.”

“The lynchpin of the ruling is that the Speaker, Kola Oluwawole, who was to be committed to prison for contempt,for not swearing in Obayemi in place of Arogundade.

“He has now been officially ordered not to swear in Obayemi until the main appeal has been duly heard.

“In other words, Arogundade remains a lawmaker and Obayemi must wait for his day in court which has ordered the Speaker not to swear in the first respondent (Obayemi).”

Counsel to Obayemi, Olayinka Sokoya, urged the court to grant an expeditious hearing of the substantive appeal,

“We will abide by the decision of the court, what we want is speedy trial because we want the matter to be heard within the time allowed by law,” he said.