Ahead of the Thursday’s inauguration of Ayodele Fayose as governor of Ekiti state, the National Judicial Council, NJC, has ordered the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Ayodele Daramola, to re-open all the courts in the state.

It will be recalled that the state was plunged into political crisis after some suspected hoodlums attacked the judge of the state high court, Justice John Adeyeye, and also unleashed violence on residents of the state, prompting the shutdown of all the courts in the state.

The directive to reopen the courts was given at the NJC periodical meeting held on Monday in Abuja, where the crisis in the Ekiti State judiciary was part of the issues deliberated upon.

The meeting, which was headed by the body’s chairman, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, is to end today.

Justice Daramola had directed that courts in the state should be shut following the attacks on the court by political thugs.

Security agencies including soldiers, police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps had since taken over the premises of the Ado Ekiti High Court and the Court of Appeal since October 7.

The NJC had in its emergency meeting on October 2 urged the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, order an investigation on the attack on judges in Ekiti State and ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice.

The crisis in the Ekiti State judiciary began on September 22 when political thugs invaded the state high court presided over by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi to interrupt proceedings in a case challenging the eligibility of Fayose to contest the June 21 election which he won.

Another incursion by the hoodlums also interrupted the proceedings of the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal where Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress were challenging Fayose’s victory.