Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola has advised Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq against reviewing the supreme court judgement on the land dispute involving Offa and Erin Ile, saying he lacks the powers to undertake such action.
The governor had last week constituted a peace committee headed by former governor of the state, Chief Cornelius Adebayo towards bringing lasting peace to the two communities.
Babalola said he handled the Erin Ile’s boundary dispute case against Offa in 1971, where the court had given judgement in favour of the town, by affirming that a place named ‘Kere Ipinle’, a boundary between the two feuding towns, belongs to Erin Ile.
The Supreme Court had in its separate judgements delivered by Justices Teslim Elias and Mary Odili, ceded the disputed land to Erin Ile in 1973 and 2018 respectively, but the judgment has not been implemented.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who spoke on Saturday, while receiving a delegation from Erin Ile at his office in ABUAD, said no committee or individual can review the judgement of any court.
While addressing the issue, the legal luminary said; “I was the one who handled the case in 1971 and the supreme court, the highest judicial body in the land, gave favourable judgement to Erin Ile in 1973. With this, nobody, no matter how highly placed can review what the Supreme Court had said, that can’t happen.”
Babalola added: “I am personally interested in this case, because I handled the case ab initio and by practice and convention, I am part and parcel of Erin Ile Community.”
The Spokesman of the Erin Ile delegation, Muideen Bello, applauded Babalola for his service in ensuring justice for the town, regretting that some powerful forces were working against the implementation of the Apex court’s verdict.
“It is very unfortunate that Supreme Court could be this debased. The powerful people were blocking the implementation of the judgements we got in 1973 and 2018. This shouldn’t happen in a democracy,” he said.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…
[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army…
ICYMI: How We Carried Out The 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack —Ogunderu
On Monday, October 25, 1993, in the heat of June 12 annulment agitations, four Nigerian youngsters, Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Razak-Lawal, did the unthinkable! They hijacked an Abuja-bound aircraft, the Nigerian Airways airbus A310, and diverted it to Niger Republic. How did they so it? Excerpts…
Sahabi Danladi Mahuta, a community mobiliser and APC chieftain. Mahuta spoke to select journalists at the sidelines of an Islamic conference in Abuja recently. Excerpts…