Ekiti Elections - Tope Aluko asks court to set aside warrant for his arrest

The controversial former secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Dr Tope Aluko, has filed an application seeking court to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against him last week.

Aluko's lawyers, Mr. Niran Owoseni and Mr. Wale Abimbola, disclosed this to newsmen today, February 10, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state capital.

They described the order as "an abuse of court process".

The warrant, which was issued by a chief Magistrate's Court in Ado-Ekiti, asked the Commissioner of Police in the state to arrest and prosecute Aluko for alleged perjury.

It came a week after Aluko revealed how the state Governor,Ayodele Fayose, allegedly rigged the Ekiti state governorship election with the help of soldiers sent to the state by former president Goodluck Jonathan.

The lawyers said their client "did not commit perjury simply because of newspaper publications," saying "a mere speculation at this stage shouldn't have been entertained in the first place."

Owoseni said; "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 with what is envisaged by the provisions of the law? We are saying no."

He said 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", he said.

He added that even if the statements were made in Ekiti, "do they satisfy the ingredients of the law with regards to the offence of perjury?"

The lawyers also said there was no charge of perjury pending before the court before the order was made and therefore said they had gone to court to seek its resolution of the matter.

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