Ekitigate: Aluko Prays Court To Vacate Arrest Warrant Against Him

Embattled former secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ekiti State, Dr Tope Aluko, has approached an Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrates Court seeking an order to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against him last week. Aluko, whose lawyers, Mr. Niran Owoseni and Mr. Wale Abimbola, disclosed this to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday during a press conference, stated that the court “might have made the order based on wrong representation,” stressing that the order was made without jurisdiction and described the warrant as “an abuse of court process.”



It would be recalled that a warrant was last week issued by the same court for the Commissioner of Police in the state to arrest and prosecute Aluko for alleged perjury.
But his lawyers said they have approached the same court, asking it to set aside the order, claiming that Aluko, “did not commit perjury simply because of newspaper publications,” insisting that, “a mere speculation at this stage shouldn’t have been entertained in the first place.”

Owoseni, who addressed journalists, stated that the Ekiti State’s Director of Public Prosecution “got it all wrong on the matter,” insisting that what he took to the court was “mere speculation” because they had charged him with perjury because they claimed that he had gave evidence on oath having testified during the tribunal.

According to him, “If you are saying he has perjured, are you going to subject that perjury to what you have gleaned from the pages of newspapers? The evidence against Aluko as of today are the things they gleaned from the newspapers. They are relying on what they gleaned from newspapers.
“Has that complied with what is envisaged by the provisions of the law? We are saying no.”
Owoseni argued that for a court to be competent, precedent must be satisfied and “then the court has the right to issue the warrant wherever the person is but if the condition precedent is not satisfied, then the jurisdiction of Ekiti State court is restricted to the boarders of Ekiti State.”

“These alleged offensive statements were not made in Ekiti in the first place. They were made in Lagos and probably somewhere else,” adding that even if the statements were made in Ekiti, “do they satisfy the ingredients of the law with regards to the offence of perjury?”
Aluko’s lawyers further stated that there was no charge of perjury pending before the court prior to the order; hence they had gone to court to seek resolution of the matter.
Daily Post.