Ondo Assembly Suspends Deputy Governor Aiyedatiwa’s Impeachment

• The APC leadership had set up a nine-man reconciliation committee led by the former governor of Kastina State, Aminu Masari, to reconcile all aggrieved party members in the state.
• The assembly speaker confirmed that lawmakers, who were in Abuja due to Mr. Ganduje’s request and the reconciliation committee, are prepared to collaborate with the party.

The impeachment proceedings against the state’s deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, have been put on hold by the Ondo State House of Assembly.

The decision was made on Tuesday after the lawmakers convened in Abuja with the National Working Committee and the Reconciliation Committee of the party.

The House had stated over the weekend that the impeachment procedure was ongoing, adding that it had been postponed to demonstrate appropriate awareness of Chief Judge Olusegun Odusola’s delicate condition.

Chief Justice Odusola had declined to constitute a seven-man panel to probe the embattled Deputy Governor, following the order of a court.

The lawmakers resolved to halt the impeachment process after a closed-door meeting with Abdullahi Ganduje, the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

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

The state House of Assembly had served Mr Aiyedatiwa notice of impeachment over allegations of gross misconduct.

Addressing journalists after the closed-door meeting, which lasted for about two hours, Mr Ganduje and the assembly speaker, Olamide Oladiji, announced the suspension of the impeachment process.

The meeting had in attendance members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), its Ondo State chairman, Ade Adetimehin, and 18 out of the 22 APC lawmakers led by the speaker.

After the meeting, the reconciliation committee chairman 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 assembly speaker, who explained that the lawmakers were in Abuja at the instance of Mr Ganduje and the reconciliation committee, said they were ready to cooperate with the party.