IMPEACHMENT: AIYEDATIWA COUNTERS ONDO ASSEMBLY, ASKS CHIEF JUDGE TO DECLINE REQUEST TO CONSTITUTE PANEL

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The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa has countered the latest offensive against him by the Ondo State House of Assembly by asking the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Hon Justice Olusola Odusola to ignore the request of the Assembly to constitute a seven-man panel of investigators into allegations of gross misconduct. This is contained in a seven-page letter written by legal luminary and leading counsel to the Deputy Governor, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, submitted to the Chief Judge in Akure on Tuesday 24th October 2023. The Assembly had written a letter to the Chief Judge on 23rd October 2023, asking him to constitute a seven-man panel to probe the Deputy Governor, claiming that the orders of injunction granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja, have expired.

In the letter delivered in the office of the Chief Judge on 24th October 2023, Aiyedatiwa through his lawyer punctured the position of the Assembly, which he said was based on conjectures, misconceptions, inconsistencies, undue desperation and misconstruction of the law. He argued that the Orders granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja on 26th September 2023 are still in force and they remain valid and subsisting, contrary to the erroneous conclusion of the Assembly that the said Orders have expired by operation of law. Dwelling on Order 26 Rule 10 (2) and (3) of the Federal High Court Rules 2019, the Deputy Governor argued that the Court in Abuja has been given a wide discretion to determine the nature, status and duration of any order granted and in this case, the Court directed that the Orders granted on 26th September 2023 should last till the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction, which is still pending before the Court.

The Deputy Governor stated in his letter that based on the two proceedings of the Federal High Court, Abuja of 9th and 16th October 2023, the Court has not set aside the pending orders and the order cannot be extinguished by the application to set it aside since it was combined with the hearing of the substantive suit. Aiyedatiwa drew the attention of the Chief Judge to the inconsistent action of the Assembly which on one hand is claiming that the Orders have expired whilst on the other hand it is pursuing an appeal against the said Orders. The Deputy Governor referred the Chief Judge to the Motion on Notice filed by the Assembly at the Court of Appeal, Abuja on 20th October, 2023 where it stated that the Orders granted by the Federal High Court are still valid and subsisting because they are tied to the hearing and determination of the Deputy Governor’s motion on notice for interlocutory injunction. He then queried whether the Assembly can approbate and reprobate at the same time by stating under oath in Court that the Orders are still valid and pending while at the same time writing a letter to the Chief Judge claiming that the Orders have expired.

The Deputy Governor quoted extensively from the motion filed by the Assembly at the Court of Appeal, Abuja to show the malicious intent of the Assembly.

“Contrary to this misconception of law and the facts, the same House of Assembly filed a Motion on Notice dated 20th October 2023, before the Court of Appeal, Abuja in respect of the same orders of the Federal High Court, praying for abridgement of time to hear its appeal against the said orders. If it is true that the orders expired by operation of law on 18th October 2023 as being falsely canvassed, why would the same House of Assembly file a fresh application two days later, in pursuit of its desire to set aside the said orders that it claimed have expired? While the Assembly is pursuing its appeal to set aside the orders in Court, it is deviously asking My Lord to set aside the same orders in Chambers, purportedly by operation of law.

In Ground 4 of the said Motion on Notice dated 20th October 2023 filed the House of Assembly and pending before the Court of Appeal in Abuja and paragraph 9 of the affidavit of Elizabeth Omiwole in support thereof, it is stated on oath as follows:

GROUND 4:

“The lower Court has not heard the Originating Summons till date and has in fact adjourned the case till 30th October 2023 whilst the INTERIM INJUNCTIONS ARE TIED TO THE HEARING AND DETERMINATION OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT’S INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATION WHICH HAS ALSO NOT BEEN TAKEN OR ARGUED TILL DATE.”

PARAGRAPH 9:

“I know as a fact that the lower Court has not heard the 1st Respondent’s Originating Summons till date. In fact, the Court has again adjourned the case till 30th October 2023 whilst the INTERIM INJUNCTIONS ARE TIED TO THE HEARING AND DETERMINATION OF THE INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATION WHICH HAS ALSO NOT BEEN ARGUED OR HEARD TILL DATE.”

The Deputy Governor reminded the Chief Judge of his principled position as stated in his letter to the Assembly on 3rd October 2023 that all parties should await the hearing of the cases in court, stating that nothing has changed to warrant a departure from the stand of the Chief Judge. He then referred to other cases that are pending before the Akure High Court on the same subject matter of impeachment, urging the Chief Judge as the head of the judiciary not to allow the Assembly to ridicule the Courts and their authority.

He also quoted from the Supreme Court decision in the case of the Deputy Governor of Taraba State (Danladi v. Dangari) where in similar fashion, lawmakers rushed to impeach him whilst his case was pending in Court, whereupon the Supreme Court quashed the impeachment and ordered his reinstatement.

Per GALADIMA, J.S.C. at page 107, paras. G-H:

“This appeal has once again brought to the fore the frequent impeachment of elected politicians, we have witnessed in recent times. As serious as the matter is, the legislators have found a veritable weapon to exit the faces of those they don’t like. It should not be so. The process of impeachment must be strictly and duly observed so as not to thwart the will of the electorate freely expressed at the polls.”

Per NGWUTA J.S.C. at page 168-169, paras. G-B:

“Impeachment of elected politicians is a very serious matter and should not be conducted as a matter of course. The purpose is to set aside the will of the electorate as expressed at the polls. It has implications for the impeached as to the electorate who bestowed the mandate on him. Whether it takes one day or three months prescribed by law, the rules of due process must be strictly followed. If the matter is left at the whims and caprices of politicians and their panels, a state or even the entire Country could be reduced to the status of a banana republic. The procedure for impeachment and removal must be guarded jealously by the court.”

Concluding, the Deputy Governor urged the Chief Judge as follows:

My Lord the Honourable Chief Judge is thus humbly urged not to accede to the request expressed in the letter of the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly of 23rd October instant but to await the due determination of the various cases pending before the Courts and the appeal of the House of Assembly before the Court of Appeal.