Ekiti court vacates jail sentence slammed on former council chair

The Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday set aside the judgment by a lower court, which sentenced a former Chairman of Ado local government in Ekiti State, Taye Fasuba, to 12 months jail term, saying it has no merit. The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, set aside […]

The Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday set aside the judgment by a lower court, which sentenced a former Chairman of Ado local government in Ekiti State, Taye Fasuba, to 12 months jail term, saying it has no merit.

The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, set aside the conviction and the N40,000 fine imposed on Fasuba, in lieu of imprisonment.

The court also ordered that the fine should be refunded to the former local government chairman, if he had paid it already.

The court ruled that the appeal he filed against Ekiti State had merit and was, thereby, allowed.

Fasuba had been arraigned before the lower court on a three-count charge of malicious damage, unlawful entry and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace in a public place.

The lower court found him guilty of two of the three counts against him.

The convict, dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, filed a notice of appeal to the Ekiti State High Court, stating seven grounds of complaint challenging the judgment.

His counsel, Mr Emmanuel Adedeji, submitted that the charges against his client before the lower court were “unwarranted, unreasonable and a miscarriage of justice.”

Adedeji said that the trial magistrate erred in law when she refused to consider the evidence of the appellant.

The Solicitor-General of Ekiti State, Mr Lade Ojo, who appeared for the case, submitted he had nothing to argue in support of the judgment of the lower court.