An Ondo State High Court in Akure, on Tuesday, dismissed a suit filed by the state Deputy Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to stop the move by the Ondo State House of Assembly to impeach him.
Justice O. Akintan-Osadebay, declined jurisdiction to adjudicate on the case to avoid conflicting verdicts between the Ondo State High Court and the Federal High Court in Abuja where Aiyedatiwa filed a similar suit.
The judge 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 Court.”
He, therefore, dismissed the suit.
Reacting to the verdict, his lawyer, Adegboruwa, said the embattled deputy governor disagreed with the judgment and had proceeded to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
In the Notice of Appeal filed at the registry of the Akure High Court on Tuesday, the appellant raised five grounds of appeal against the decision of the judge.
Adegboruwa contended that Justice Akintan-Osadebay denied his client a fair hearing by “combining the hearing of his application for an amendment together with the application of the House of Assembly challenging the jurisdiction of the court.”
Punch