The Oyo State High Court in Ibadan, the state’s capital, has rejected all of the arguments made by Rauf Olaniyan, the state’s immediate past deputy governor, who sought to overturn his impeachment by the state house of assembly.
Remember that Rauf Olaniyan, the ousted deputy governor of Oyo State, had already criticized Justice Munta Abimbola, the state’s chief judge, over the composition of a seven-member panel that had recommended that he be removed from office.
Olaniyan, speaking through his attorney Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), approached the court and said that the panel established to look into the accusations made against him lacked the authority to do so, characterizing it as a charade.
However, the trial judge, Ladiran Akintola, on July 15, 2022 ruled that the originating summon filed by the claimant was purely legislative and not judicial in line with the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as ammended).
He held that the lawmakers and all the defendants did not err on the impeachment process. Besides, the court, which noted that the lawmakers substantially complied with the provisions of Section 188 of the constitution on the removal process, urged the lawmakers to continue with the impeachment proceedings.
Following the development, the court on Monday, 9th January 2023, dismissed the case instituted by the former Deputy governor.
In a letter written to the speaker of the Oyo Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, by the assembly counsel and obtained by newsarena.ng, The court held that all the processes leading to the impeachment are lawful and constitutional.
