Oyo Assembly approved the nomination on Monday afternoon after impeaching Rauf Olaniyan as the state’s deputy governor
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Oyo State House of Assembly has approved the nomination of Bayo Lawal as the state’s Deputy Governor.
Lawmakers in the state gave the approval on Monday afternoon after impeaching Rauf Olaniyan as the state’s Deputy Governor.
Olaniyan was impeached by the lawmakers over allegations of misconduct.
The decision to impeach him was reached after the lawmakers presented and considered the recommendation of the seven-man panel set up by the Chief Judge, Munta Abimbola to investigate him over allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office.
The impeachment according to the assembly takes immediate effect.
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According to the report of the committee presented during Monday’s plenary by the Majority leader of the house, Hon Sanjo Adedoyin, the seven-man panel found the Deputy Governor guilty of all the allegations leveled against him.
All the 23 PDP lawmakers at the plenary voted in support of the recommendations of the panel.
The investigative panel was set up last week to investigate at least five allegations contained in a petition against Olaniyan.
Olaniyan had been elected into office in 2019 with Governor Seyi Makinde under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party but had a falling out with the governor over time.
This year, the differences between both men and their working relationship deteriorated and became virtually irreconcilable when the Deputy Governor dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress.
Before his eventual removal, Olaniyan taken the Oyo Assembly to court over the move against him by the lawmakers.
He was represented in court by his counsel, Chief Afolabi Fashanu, SAN, in the case which came up before Justice Ladiran Akintola at the Oyo State High Court, Ring Road, Ibadan, on June 28.
The judge ordered that the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, and the Clerk of the House be put on notice before he adjourned the matter to June 29.
However, on July 6, despite the order by the Oyo State High Court restraining the state House of Assembly from going ahead with the impeachment process against Olaniyan, the Assembly directed the Chief Judge of the state to set up a seven-man panel to investigate the allegation of gross misconduct against the deputy governor.
Meanwhile, in a judgment delivered on July 14, the judge held that the impeachment move initiated by the lawmakers had not violated the constitution in any way, thereby dismissing the suit.
The court said the lawmakers substantially complied with the provisions of Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution on the removal process.
The court gave the lawmakers the go-ahead to continue with the impeachment process.