About twenty years later, upon her appointment as a Senior Magistrate II in 2016, she submitted another application to the Judicial Service Commission for correction of date of birth, with claims that her correct date of birth was April 24, 1966, and that her “uncle” had erroneously documented April 24, 1964.
The Chief Registrar, Ondo State Judiciary, Ajibade Bolatito who was recently nominated as a Federal High Court Judge, has been accused of continuous and conscious involvement in alleged age falsification.
This is according to a petition signed by Barrister Femi Emmanuel Emodamori and addressed to Ajibade's office, copying the Honourable Chief Judge of Ondo State and the Ondo State Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice.
Other documents attached to the petition dated November 3, 2021, show that Ajibade had upon her application to the Judicial Service Commission in 1996, declared her date of birth as April 24, 1964.
About twenty years later, upon her appointment as a Senior Magistrate II in 2016, she submitted another application to the Judicial Service Commission for correction of date of birth, with claims that her correct date of birth was April 24, 1966, and that her “uncle” had erroneously documented April 24, 1964.
This was granted by the commission, nevertheless, two years after the application and consequent approval of the change made to the date of birth, Ajibade declared her date of birth as April 24, 1964, a date she said her uncle had erroneously used for her.
Her Passport with number A09401646 was renewed in 2018 (two years after applying to the Judicial Service Commission for ‘correction’ of date of birth), still, she went ahead to declare April 24, 1964 as her official date of birth.
Emodamori further stated that Ajibade had been found wanting of similar infractions of the law and consequently dismissed as the Secretary of the National Judicial Institute in 2010 by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Lord Hon. Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, as the Chairman of the Institute.
He said she was later re-integrated into the Ondo State Judiciary.
The petition was titled, ‘Allegation Of Age Falsification And/Or Use Of Dual Official Age(s). An Urgent Need For Your Clear, Cogent And Convincing Denial’.
It reads: “I hereby respectfully notify you that I have received some seriously disturbing information, backed by ex facie strong documentary evidence, suggesting that you might have perpetrated official age falsification and are currently using dual or multiple official age(s).
“This, in my opinion, calls for an urgent, clear, cogent and convincing denial, in view of your highly sensitive position as the Chief Registrar of the Ondo State Judiciary and one of the judicial officers recently nominated for appointment as a Judge of the Federal High Court.
“The totality of information and documents at my disposal reveals the following strong prima facts: You personally filled and submitted an application form to the Ondo State Judicial Service Commission in 1996, declaring that you were born on 24th April, 1964 and that your age, as at then, was 32 ½ years.
“I have attached a copy of the application form for appointment as Annexure A. You were consequently appointed as a Senior Magistrate II.
“In 2016, twenty (20) years after your appointment, you submitted another application to the Judicial Service Commission for correction of your date of birth, claiming that your correct date of birth was 24th April, 1966, and that your ‘uncle’ erroneously documented 24th April, 1964 as your date of birth.
“You claimed to have only discovered this when you were already fifty-two (52) years old. Interestingly, you accompanied your application for change or correction of date of birth with a ‘Certificate of Registration of Birth’ supposedly (or purportedly) issued by the Ibadan City Council in 1968, a copy of which I have attached hereto as Annexure B.
“Acting on your application, and apparently giving you the benefit of doubt, the Ondo State Judicial Service Commission granted your application for correction of date of birth from 24th April, 1964 to 24th April, 1966, with retrospective effect in the calculation of your length of service.
“I have attached as Annexures C and D, a letter written in November 2016 to the Judicial Service Commission by the then Chief Registrar on the strength of the (mis)information you supplied, and the approval letter respectively of your request by the Judicial Service Commission vide a letter dated January 3, 2017.
“Instructively, in all your other official documents, including your International Passport No. A09401646 which you renewed in 2018 (two years after applying to the Judicial Service Commission for ‘correction’ of your date of birth), you still declared and/or retained 24th April, 1964 as your real age. I have also attached the information page of your International Passport as Annexure E.
“As a judicial officer, you would agree with me that the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from the above pieces of documentary evidence is that you are consciously declaring and using dual or possibly multiple official age(s).
“With due respect, there is no way these dual or multiple official age(s) could be true; one or some of them must have been falsified, an act which constitutes a crime under S. 25 of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000 as well as S.192 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.
“However, even the Omniscient (all-knowing) God would not conclude and condemn any man on an issue without first hearing his own side. This is evident in His encounter with Adam and Eve in Genesis Chapter 3, and I believe it was for this reason that the Bible also admonishes us in John 7:51 not to judge any man until we hear him.
“Admittedly, you are a high profile figure by virtue of your highly sensitive position as the Chief Registrar of the Ondo State Judiciary, and your recent nomination for appointment as a Federal High Court Judge. Necessity therefore demands that you promptly make a clear public statement on the above allegations, which are fast dominating gossips even at construction sites and local markets, within 24 hours from the receipt of this letter.
“I am sure your anticipated prompt response would reassure Nigerians that you could be trusted with the requisite integrity for the discharge of the duties of your esteemed current office and the greater office of a Judge of the Federal High Court, which you are seeking appointment to, particularly in view of the fact that you had been found wanting of similar infractions of the law and consequently dismissed as the Secretary of the National Judicial Institute in 2010 by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, My Lord Hon. Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, as the Chairman of the Institute, before you were re-integrated into the Ondo State Judiciary.
Please accept my highest regards.”
Reacting to the allegations, Ajibade said she had yet to see the letter, noting that as a public servant, she would wait for the relevant authorities and her boss to treat the letter and respond appropriately.
"The letter has been addressed to my boss, let him treat it first. You know I am a civil servant, let my boss do what is appropriate on it please," Ajibade said.
DOCUMENTS: Ondo Judiciary Chief Registrar Enmeshed In Age Falsification Scandal, Alleged Use Of Two ‘Offici... by Sahara Reporters on Scribd