Ekiti state government alongside the attorneys general of lagos and Ogun States have sued the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami following the implementation of virtual court proceedings.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ekiti state, Wale Fapohunda, in the lawsuit which challenged the constitutionality of Malami’s directive for Head of Courts at federal and state levels to hold virtual court sittings following the outbreak of Coronavirus, asked the apex court to issue an order striking down the directive as it relates to Virtual or Remote Court sittings.
Its acknowledged that Ekiti state wants the Supreme Court to determine whether the AGF’s guidelines are not a derogation from the legislative, executive and judicial law-making, law execution and adjudicatory rules making powers exclusively vested in states of the federation in respect of states courts, by virtue of Sections 1(3), 4(6), 5(2), 6(2), 272 and 272 and 274 of the Constitution. The state also asked for nullification of the directive to the extent that same purports to be binding on state High Courts and other subordinate courts in Ekiti State for being inconsistent with Section 1(3), 4(6), 5(2), 6(2), 36(3) and (4), 272 and 274 of the 1999 Constitution.
It was also asked of the supreme court to determine if whether Lagos and Ogun state having adopted virtual court hearings pursuant to the lockdown, the three arms of Government in Ekiti State are bound to conduct their legislative, executive and judicial functions pertaining to adjudication in state courts in compliance with the directive upon which the National Judicial Council formulated the provisions of Articles E(1) to E(13) of its Guidelines (issued on May 7, 2020).
Reasons Ogun, Lagos And AGF Was Sued By Ekiti State Government Finally Revealed
