Impeachment: Aregbesola responds to Osun judge’s allegations

Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has responded to the petition written against him by a serving judge in the state, Justice Folahanmi Oloyede.

The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam, said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo, the state capital, on Wednesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Goke Butika.

Oloyede, in a petition to the state House of Assembly, had accused Aregbesola of financial recklessness and asked the lawmakers to impeach the governor.

The Speaker, who had earlier confirmed that the Assembly had forwarded the petition to the governor for his response, said the lawmakers could not do anything until they received the governor’s response.

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The statement read in part, “Osun State House of Assembly has expressed its readiness to address the petition sent to it by a judge of the State High Court, Justice Olamide Folahanmi Oloyede, having obtained the response of Governor Rauf Aregbesola on the matter.

“The detailed response of the state helmsman was obtained on Tuesday, compelling the parliament to set machinery in motion on the investigation of allegations of financial hiccups and her position for the preparation of impeachment article against the governor, among other issues.

“The parliament would be fair and thorough in investigating all the issues raised with a view to reaching a logical end that would give all parties concerned sense of justice without fear or favour.

“I have constituted an investigative committee that will look into the petition forwarded by Justice Oloyede, and I have given the committee the mandate to interact with Justice Oloyede in person.

“Justice Oloyede is in the best position to further shed light on her position as expressed. However, I assure all the parties concerned that the matter would be treated with fairness and sense of justice without fear or favour.”

Meanwhile, the Coalition of Groups for Good Governance has berated the judge for asking the Assembly to impeach the governor.

The Chairman of CGGG, Waheed Adediran, said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo.

Adediran said, “It is unambiguous that the petition forwarded to the Osun State House of Assembly by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede is not known to law and not capable of initiating any form of impeachment process whatsoever.

“In pursuant to section 188 (1) (2) and section 1 (1) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, the petition in question is a mere letter that does not deserve any attention.”

The group also said the governor was not guilty of allegation of financial recklessness levelled against him by the judge.

Adediran explained that the crash in the price of crude oil and crude oil theft during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the reduction in revenue allocation to Osun.

He said that Aregbesola had worked hard to raise the state’s internally generated revenue from N300m per month to N1.6 bn per month, adding that the governor had done so much to develop the state.

Reference: PUNCH