A man, Fesobi Adeyemo, has accused the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State, Mr Charles Titiloye, of attempting to use influence to pervert justice.
He alleged that Titiloye, as the AG, took over a case he had interest in.
According to the petitioner, Titiloye was the counsel for the defendant in the case before getting the appointment of Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
The case was a criminal case between the Commissioner of Police and one Osalusi Micheal.
The petitioner also alleged that the ex-AG had crossed-examined the PW1 (the investigating police officer) while the matter was ongoing in court, before he took the appointment.
In the petition made available to our correspondent on Friday, the defendant, Michael, stated that he had not requested Titiloye to take over the prosecution of the case.
He said, “While I know that under the law the Attorney General can take over a case but not in this circumstance. It is an abuse of power and unethical behaviour for the Attorney General to do so when he has vested interest in the matter since he is the counsel for the defendant. He sent a lawyer from the Ministry of Justice to take over the case.”
He urged Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to investigate the matter to prevent perversion of justice.
Titiloye, who described the petition as mischievous and aimed at embarrassing him, said he never acted unethically.
He explained that lawyers in his chambers continued the prosecution of the case after he was appointed Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
He also denied sending any lawyer from the Ministry of Justice to take over prosecution of the case, saying it was the Department of Public Prosecutions that approached the court for the purpose of giving legal advice on the case.
Source : PUNCH