Ondo Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa Advises Chief Judge To Ignore Assembly Order On Impeachment Panel Insists Court Injunction Stays

By Ayodele Oni

The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa has advised the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Olusola Odusola, to ignore the request of the State Assembly to constitute a seven-man panel of investigators to probe allegations of gross misconduct against him.

This is contained in a seven-page letter written by the leading counsel to the Deputy Governor, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN,  to the Chief Judge in Akure on Tuesday.

The Assembly on Monday wrote a letter to the Chief Judge, asking him to constitute a seven-man panel to probe the Deputy Governor, claiming that the injunction granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja, had expired.

Aiyedatiwa, through his lawyer, faulted the position of the Assembly, which he said was based on conjectures, misconceptions, inconsistencies, undue desperation and misconstruction of the law.

He argued that the Orders granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja on September 26, 2023, were still in force and remained valid and subsisting, contrary to the conclusion of the Assembly that the said Orders had expired by operation of law.

The Deputy Governor insisted that the Court in Abuja has been given wide discretion to determine the nature, status and duration of any order granted and “in this case, the Court directed that the Orders granted on 26th September 2023 should last till the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction, which is still pending before the Court.”

The Deputy Governor stated that based on the two proceedings of the Federal High Court, Abuja of October 9 and 16, 2023, the Court has not set aside the pending orders and the order cannot be extinguished by application to set it aside since it was combined with the hearing of the substantive suit.

Aiyedatiwa drew the attention of the Chief Judge to the inconsistent action of the Assembly, which on one hand is claiming that the Orders have expired whilst, on the other hand, it is pursuing an appeal against the said Orders.

The Deputy Governor referred the Chief Judge to the Motion on Notice filed by the Assembly at the Court of Appeal, Abuja on October 20, 2023, where it stated that the Orders granted by the Federal High Court were still valid and subsisting because they were tied to the hearing and determination of the Deputy Governor’s motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

He then queried whether the Assembly can approbate and reprobate at the same time by stating under oath in Court that the Orders are still valid and pending, while at the same time writing a letter to the Chief Judge claiming that the Orders have expired.

“Contrary to this misconception of law and the facts, the same House of Assembly filed a Motion on Notice dated 20th October 2023, before the Court of Appeal, Abuja in respect of the same orders of the Federal High Court, praying for abridgement of time to hear its appeal against the said orders.

“If it is true that the orders expired by operation of law on 18th October 2023 as being falsely canvassed, why would the same House of Assembly file a fresh application two days later.”