The Oyo State House of Assembly has impeached the Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, following misconduct and a series of allegations levelled against him.
Olaniyan was impeached by the lawmakers over allegations of misconduct on Monday around 11:00am.
His impeachment followed the recommendation of a seven-man investigation panel led by Justice Munta Abimbola which affirmed the allegations leveled against the deputy governor.
Twenty-three of the 32 lawmakers in the Assembly endorsed his impeachment.
The report of the panel set up to investigate him was read by the Majority Leader of the House, Sanjo Adedoyin, from Ogbomoso.
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.
Olaniyan dragged the Oyo Assembly to court over the impeachment move against him by the lawmakers.
The deputy governor 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.
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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.
This was contained in a motion jointly moved by the Majority leader, Hon Sanjo Onaolapo, and Hon Akintunde Olajide during the plenary.
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 Constitution on the removal process.
The court gave the lawmakers the go-ahead to continue with the impeachment process.
The Oyo State Assembly is largely dominated by the PDP, which must have made a battle against the deputy governor’s removal tough for the APC camp.
