Impeachment Saga: Court dismisses Ondo Assembly appeal against Aiyedatiwa after withdrawal

The Abuja Division of the Appeal Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Ondo House of Assembly against an earlier High Court judgment stopping the impeachment of the State Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The dismissal of the suit on Thursday followed the withdrawal of the appeal by the House and the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji.

The appellants had earlier filed the appeal after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had, on September 26, restrained the House of Assembly from impeaching Aiyedatiwa over allegations of gross misconduct, pending the determination of a notice of interlocutory injunction.

The judge had also restrained the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, from nominating a new deputy governor and forwarding the same to the lawmakers for approval pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.

Not satisfied with the judgement, the House filed an appeal through the assembly’s counsel, Femi Emodamori, seeking the appellate court to set aside the ruling.

But during sitting on Thursday, counsel to the applicants, Remi Olatubora (SAN) told the court that the parties involved have decided to withdraw the case, noting that the parties have found a political solution to their problems.

“Parties to this dispute have found political solutions to their problems. They have signed an amistad agreement and on behalf of the appellants, we are here to enforce our part by withdrawing this appeal.

“The instruction to this effect was given to us by the speaker and House of Assembly yesterday. We have filed an application to this effect. The application was dated November 29 but filed this morning. In the interest of peace, we would like to withdraw this appeal,” Olatubora said.

Consequently, the three-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, dismissed the appeal.

The withdrawal of the appeal is coming barely one week after President Bola Tinubu met with Aiyedatiwa, members of the Assembly as well as leaders of the APC in the State in a bid to resolve the lingering political crisis in the state.

Insiders report that part of the takeaways from the meeting was that all parties involved must withdraw all pending cases in court.

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