Ondo Assembly suspends deputy governor’s impeachment process

The Ondo State House of Assembly has suspended the impeachment process against the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The lawmakers resolved to halt the process at the end of a closed-door meeting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.

The APC national leadership had last week set up a nine-man committee led by the former Katsina State governor, Aminu Masari, to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party in the state.

This followed the parliament’s move to impeach the deputy governor for alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office.

Masari and the Assembly Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, announced the suspension of the impeachment process at the end of the two-hour meeting.

The meeting was attended by members of the APC National Working Committee (NWC), the party’s chairman in Ondo State, Ade Adetimehin, Masari, and 18 out of the 22 APC lawmakers in the state.

The ex-Katsina governor said: “For now, the probe and impeachment processes have been suspended to allow room for the committee to work.

“We met with all stakeholders, except for the governor, who we are still making an effort to see.”

The Speaker, who said the lawmakers were in Abuja at the instance of Ganduje and the reconciliation committee, added that they were ready to cooperate with the party.

Oladiji said: “We promised to work with the national chairman and the chairman of the reconciliation committee to find a lasting solution to the political crisis in Ondo State.

“We gave a promise that on our part, we are ready to cooperate as an arm of government with the party.

READ ALSO: Impeachment: Aiyedatiwa appeals as court strikes out case

“At the same time, whenever they want to meet us, we will be of help to the committee. More importantly, we will allow the committee to do their work without hitches.

“Apart from that, we believe this is the only political solution that will be of help to resolve the crisis in the party’s Ondo State chapter.”

On his part, Ganduje commended all parties in the crisis for allowing a political solution to the impasse.

He said the lawmakers’ decision to suspend the process showed they are democrats and committed party faithful.

The former Kano governor thanked the speaker and the lawmakers for honouring the invitation to the meeting.

“This is proof that you are real democrats, civilised, and believe in conflict resolution.

“I have to thank the State Assembly for agreeing to suspend the impeachment process and give room for a political solution to the problem.

“As the reconciliation chairman has mentioned, they haven’t met the governor and his deputy yet, but they met all the stakeholders. That was what warranted today’s meeting.

“And now, having suspended the impeachment process, they have created a conducive environment to continue dialoguing. We believe that we will reach a political solution,” the APC chairman added.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now