The Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised alarm over two controversial letters allegedly issued from the office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, describing them as illegal, suspicious, and politically motivated.
At a press conference in Osogbo on Tuesday, the State Chairman of the PDP, Hon. Sunday Bisi, said the letters, dated August 21 and September 2, 2025, were purportedly used to assign judicial duties to judges through aides of the Chief Judge.
Bisi said the first letter was signed by Joshua Ibrahim Aji, identified as Special Assistant to the Chief Judge, while the second letter, dated September 2, was signed by an unnamed person on behalf of the aide.
According to him, the September 2 letter was only delivered to Osun State counsel on September 11, raising suspicion that it might have been backdated.
“Judicial powers cannot be exercised either directly or by delegation through an aide. A Special Assistant is not a judicial officer, and judicial powers cannot be exercised by proxies. To make matters worse, the second letter was not even signed by the so-called Special Assistant but by an unknown person. This is bizarre, unprecedented, and unacceptable,” Bisi said.
The PDP chairman accused the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) of complicity, alleging that the AGF had consistently disregarded subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in favour of duly elected PDP local government officials.
“The AGF has effectively turned the Federal High Court into an annex of his Chambers. He has encouraged sacked APC Chairmen and Councillors to embark on reckless judicial adventures, seeking elongation of a tenure they never had. This is a deliberate attempt to erode judicial independence and impose political bias on the courts,” he alleged.
Bisi noted that the letters breached the Federal High Court Act, which provides that a matter can only be transferred from one judge to another through a formal application made in open court before the presiding judge. He added that one of the letters was addressed directly to Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, counsel to the AGF, even though the AGF had already been withdrawn from the case.
The PDP called for the case to be returned to the Osogbo Division of the Federal High Court, where it was originally filed, stressing that any application for transfer must be openly made before the presiding judge.
“Our position is clear, this matter must be returned to the regular Federal High Court in Osogbo. Any application for transfer must be made openly before the judge. Anything else is illegality. We demand accountability, transparency, and respect for the rule of law,” Bisi declared.
The party urged the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to probe the circumstances under which the letters were issued and to ensure that only judicial officers exercise judicial authority.
Advertisement
