The NJC has determined that Mr. Falola, a judge of the Osun State High Court, is to be dismissed.
This decision comes after an examination of his actions in granting an order garnishee absolute for the enforcement of a court judgment, which the NJC deemed as being done “in a questionable and strange manner.”
Following a meeting in Abuja on Thursday, the National Judicial Council (NJC), led by Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, reached the conclusion that Mr. Falola is culpable of this irregular conduct.
The recommendation for his dismissal stems from the perceived questionable nature of his approach in handling the court judgment enforcement process.
The NJC said the Osun State judge erred by entertaining proceedings for enforcement of a judgement purportedly from a Kwara State court “when there was no evidence of a judgement of the Kwara State High Court before him, neither was there a Certificate of Registration of same in Osun State to confer jurisdiction on him.”
Mr Falola was also found wanting for conspiring with some lawyers and court officials to execute a garnishee order without appropriate recourse to the law.
Premium Times broke the story in an extensive report in November 2019, detailing how Mr Falola prostrated before a lawyer who represented Polaris Bank in the suit; seeking pardon.
In a statement released on Thursday by Soji Oye, NJC’s director of information, announcing Mr Falola’s removal from the bench, the council described his conduct as “unbecoming of the standard expected of a Judicial Officer.”
Consequently, the NJC recommended Mr Falola’s sacking to Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State.
The NJC is the body statutorily vested with the responsibility of appointment and discipline of judges. But its recommendations of sanctions against an erring judge, requires the approval of the president or the state governor, depending whether it involves a federal or state judge, for such sanctions to take effect.
