Ondo lawmakers split over renewed move to remove deputy governor

Eleven out of the 26 members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have spoken out against the resumption of the move to sack Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for alleged gross misconduct.

The House had this week renewed its directive to the chief judge of the state, Olusegun Odusola, to constitute a seven-person panel to investigate the allegations made against the deputy governor by some lawmakers.

Mr Odusola had initially declined to constitute the panel, citing an order of the Federal High Court restraining further actions in the move to remove the deputy governor until a case he filed before the court on the matter is determined.

In the latest development, one of a series on the political crisis in the state on Thursday, the 11 lawmakers dissociated themselves from the letter of 23 October written by the Speaker of the House, Olamide Oladiji, renewing the directive to the chief judge on the probe panel.

In a press statement they issued in Akure, the 11 lawmakers said Mr Oladiji’s letter did not emanate from a resolution of the House and is, therefore, not authorised.

The lawmakers who signed the statement include Japheth Oluwatoyin, Jide Oguntodu, Tiamiyu Fatai Atere, Gbegudu Ololade and Allen Oluwatoyin. The others are Abitogun Stephen, Tope Komolafe, Afe Felix, Oladapo Biola, Fayemi Olawumi and Oshati Olatunji.

They said the decision by Mr Oladiti to transmit the letter to the chief judge “is in the least unwarranted and uncalled for, in the light of the following reasons;

“a) The order of interim injunction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division, of 21st day of September, 2023, which has restrained the speaker and Ondo State House of Assembly, as 4th and 6th respondents respectively, is still subsisting, since it has neither be vacated nor set aside. For us to act in contravention of the subsisting order of the Court will certainly be contemptuous.

“b) The National Leaders of the All Progressive Congress, on 17th October. 2023, invited all the members of the Party, of Ondo State House’ of Assembly to the National Secretariat of the Party and pleaded for amicable and political solution to the issue of impeachment process, initiated by the House against the Deputy Governor of Ondo State. Without hesitation, the request was acceded to, in the interest of the party and peace of Ondo State, by the State chairman of APC, Engr. Ade Adetimehin and Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Oladiji Olamide Adesanmi, who consequently addressed the press immediately after the meeting. It will be untidy in our view to get back to Ondo State and act otherwise.

“c) The decision to transmit the purported letter of Ondo State House of Assembly. dated 23rd October, 2023, signed by Rt. Hon Oladiji Olamide Adesanmi, was taken without a formal sitting of the House and our knowledge as members of the 10th Assembly.

“d) It is our considered view that we should be honourable indeed by standing with our acceptance at the Abuja meeting to suspend the impeachment process and allow for amicable and political solution to the issue for the benefits of governance and peace of Ondo State.”

The lawmakers expressed “unalloyed respect and support” to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who they said “strongly believes in peace and progress of Ondo State,” and also urged Mr Ayedatiwa “to eamestly toe the path of the agreement for amicable and political solution to the impeachment saga, as brokered by the National Working Committee of All Progressive Congress.

“In the light of the foregoing, we the undersigned members of Ondo State House of Assembly, wish to dissociate ourselves from the letter titled: Request to Constitute a Seven-man panel, to investigate the Allegation of Gross Misconduct Against the Deputy Governor of Ondo State. Following the Expiration of the Interim Injunction of the Federal High Court in Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1294/2023, by Operation of Law, signed by Rt. Hon. Oladiji Olamide Adesanmi and addressed to the Chief Judge of Ondo State.”

This development came on the same day that Mr Akeredolu rejected an apology tendered to him by Mr Aiyedatiwa over the embarrassment that the ongoing political crisis must have caused in the state.

Addressing journalists earlier on Thursday in Akure, Mr Aiyedatiwa had blamed the crisis on desperate politicians in the state. He said he remained loyal to the governor and also denied sponsoring any protest against him.

However, in his reaction through his Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties and Strategy, Doyin Odebowale, Mr Akeredolu advised Mr Aiyedatiwa to appear before the House of Assembly to face the allegations against him.

The governor denied the claim by the deputy governor that he had asked the House to embrace political solutions to the crisis.

He also rejected the claim by the deputy governor that he had never sponsored any group to protest against him.

Mr Odebowale said in the statement, “Governor Akeredolu does not meddle in the affairs of the House of Assembly of Ondo State, as subtly suggested at the (Aiyedatiwa’s) press conference. There has never been any time when the governor ‘persuaded’ the ‘distinguished members of Ondo State House of Assembly to embrace the political solution offered by the APC, ‘in the face of an impeachment move against’ the Deputy Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

“The governor, a senior advocate of over two decades, possesses a deep understanding of constitutional democracy. Any snide suggestion of meddlesomeness in the business of the second arm of government by the governor is repudiated with vehemence. Mr Governor cannot descend too low.

“The deputy governor referred to the allegations of malfeasance levelled against him by the House of Assembly as ‘all sorts of lies against my person in the media.’ It is only decent that we advise him to take this defence to the same House of Assembly which came up with 14 allegations of gross misconduct against him.”

The governor also took exception to Mr Aiyedatiwa’s reference to his ill health, saying, “More instructive is the unfortunate reference made to ‘a series of events triggered by the health challenges faced by Mr Governor, which gave rise to misunderstandings, misconceptions, assumptions, and insinuations, and exploited by political contenders preparing for the upcoming 2024 gubernatorial election.’”

According to him, “the good people of Ondo State are too discerning to be hoodwinked with dissembling equivocation.”

He said, “Keen observers of events, as they have been unfolding in the state, cannot miss the import of the malicious intents, insensitive posturing and diabolical projections of the last six months in the government of the Sunshine State.”