Oyo Deputy Governor Sues Assembly Over ‘Faulty Impeachment Process’

Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court yesterday adjourned till today a suit challenging the House of Assembly’s petition against Deputy Governor Rauf Olaniyan.

Olaniyan’s lawyer, Chief Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), asked the court to order that Speaker of the House Adebo Ogundoyin, and the Clerk Mrs. Oludara Awe, be put on notice of the suit.

It was gathered that the case was adjourned due to no legal appearance from the Assembly which necessitated the request that the speaker and clerk be ordered to be served.

As at press time yesterday, it was still unclear if the Assembly had been served the notice.

Efforts to confirm the development were unsuccessful as the Assembly’s spokesperson, Kazeem Olayanju, could not be reached on phone, either through whatsapp or text message.

However, a source close to the deputy governor acknowledged that the Assembly had the right to start an impeachment process, but the court could also intervene if the process is faulty.

According to him, the deputy governor is more concerned about the appropriateness of the process, and so would be seeking the court’s intervention to prevent a situation where the process will be stopped due to unconstitutional processes.

Meanwhile, barring last minute changes, the lawmakers may today continue the impeachment process by deliberating on the deputy governor’s response.