It is too early to say if a combination of resort to court and the intervention of the ruling All Progressives Congress-APC- will save the embattled deputy governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, from impeachment.
APC has mandated a committee chaired by the former Speaker and ex-Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, to broker peace between the Ondo State lawmakers and the deputy governor and stave-off the impending impeachment.
A look at Aiyedatiwa’s ‘sins’
The deputy governor is being accused of gross misconduct in contravention of his oath of office. Specifically, the lawmakers listed 14 allegations, including undermining the office of the governor by causing division within the executive council with a view to impeaching Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Other allegations are that the deputy governor engaged in other businesses in contravention of his oath of office and collected money running into over N7 million in June and July for the purpose of travelling but did not travel at all.
The lawmakers also accused the deputy governor of using his position to enrich himself “through unreasonable release of funds for his personal use”.
From pillar to post, the embattled deputy governor has engaged every instrument of the law to save his head. He approached an Abuja Federal High Court and secured an ex parte order stopping his impeachment but the lawmakers, in defiance to the court order, wrote the Ondo State Chief Judge, asking him to set up a probe panel.
No amount of gaslighting can justify the brazen attempts by the Ondo State lawmakers, or anybody whatsoever, to contravene an order of a court validly sought and constitutionally given.
I am not in any way suggesting that the lawmakers should be prevented from performing their constitutionally approved duties; far from that! The allegations leveled against the deputy governor are weighty and need to be investigated. If proven, they should culminate in his impeachment in the event that he fails to resign which, without doubt, is the most honourable thing to do.
However, there can be no justification to subvert justice by deliberately going contrary to a court order. Section 287 (3) of the 1999 constitution as amended enjoins all persons and authorities in Nigeria to obey and give effect to court orders.
Essentially, what stands a country out as a constitutional democracy is the determination of all, regardless of social status, to ensure strict adherence to the constitution and, indeed, obey court orders. Ondo assembly, or any other authority for that matter, cannot and should not create the impression that it is above the nation’s grundnorm.
That being the case, the fitting thing for the lawmakers to do is to obey the ex parte order. There is no contesting the fact that ex parte orders are temporary and can be vacated if the court finds no legal basis to sustain them.
Rather than insist on proceeding with the impeachment, the lawmakers need not be told that their best bet is to find ways and means within the confines of our laws to vacate the order. Doing this should not be difficult, except if the state assembly wants to operate in a manner that presents it as being above the law.
The worst thing that can happen to any nation is for the makers of its laws to be found guilty of contravening the same laws they framed. It is within the confines of this standpoint that I join other law-abiding Nigerians to urge the lawmakers to obey the court order and suspend action. As should be expected, the Ondo CJ has insisted on adherence to the order of the court. Until the order is vacated, the state assembly’s directive asking the CJ to set up a probe panel is at best a hog-wash.
There are copious instances of impeachments hurriedly done in utter disregard to the dictates of the law, which were later overturned by the courts. I think those instances are enough reasons for the Ondo assembly to be meticulous in its current efforts to sack Aiyedatiwa.
Governance in limbo?
But what is really happening to governance in Ondo State where the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, is recuperating from ill-health? Is it not worrisome that the deputy governor who ordinarily should be assisting his boss in steering the ship of leadership is distracted by the current moves to impeach him?
Arguably, Governor Akeredolu’s absence on grounds of ill health has continued to affect governance in the state, considering the fact that in most states things rise or fall with the governors who rarely delegate power to their deputies.
In Ondo, Governor Akeredolu who had been on a medical vacation for close to six months recently announced his arrival and resumption. If you think that is a relief, you are dead wrong, as he has not resumed in his office at Akure since his return from Germany.
As a matter of fact, for close to six months, there has been, for instance, no executive council meeting in the state. It is under this atmosphere that the tiff between the state House of Assembly and the deputy governor is brewing. Critical stakeholders in and outside the state need to intervene and bring this politically motivated tiff to an end for the sake of good governance in Ondo.