An Ibadan-based lawyer, Mutalubi Adebayo, SAN, has given Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, a 10-day ultimatum to pay arrears of allowances owed retired and serving judges in the state or face legal action.

Adebayo, in a statement dated Thursday, September 21, signed by himself, and obtained by our correspondent in Osogbo, said that should Adeleke refuse to yield to the request, by September 30, legal action to compel him to pay up would commence in a court of competent jurisdiction on October 3.

The lawyer, who confirmed being the author of the statement in a message to our correspondent, also noted that besides the arrears of outstanding allowances, he would also claim interest and aggravated damages in respect of the unpaid entitlements.

Adebayo’s statement further read in parts, “This serves as a notice to the Governor, the Government and the Judicial Service Commission of Osun State of Nigeria that if all the arrears of allowances being owed all the Judicial Officers in the state (both serving and retired) from the tenure of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola till date are not liquidated on or before the 30th day of September 2023, I, JCI Senator Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN, shall on the 3rd day of October 2023 commence legal action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover the full amount of the said unpaid allowances from the Government of Osun State and its Judicial Service Commission.

“Take further notice that I will also claim interest and aggravated damages in respect of those unpaid allowances because the acts of the Government of Osun State in refusing to pay same over the years amount to sheer callousness, recklessness, disregard for rule of law, indecent and unfair.”

However, the spokesperson to the governor, Olawale Rasheed, had yet to react to the statement as of the time of filing the report. (The PUNCH)

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