Court Sacks Ondo Deputy Speaker, Reinstates Iroju

Fidelis David in Akure

An Akure High Court yesterday voided the appointment of Mr. Samuel Aderoboye as the deputy speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly and ordered the reinstatement of Hon. Ogundeji Iroju, as the deputy speaker of the assembly.

The court, which was presided over by Justice Adetan Osadebey, described as illegal, null and void the purported removal of the lawmaker representing Odigbo Constituency 1 in the state assembly as the deputy speaker on November 24, 2020, by some members of the Assembly.

Recall that Ogundeji was impeached in 2020 following crisis that erupted in the House of Assembly in the build up to the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State where he kicked against a move to impeach the then Deputy Governor, Mr. Agboola Ajayi.

The assembly later appointed Aderoboye as the deputy speaker, the position he was occupying as at the time of the court’s judgment was delivered yesterday.

Displeased with the action of the assembly, Ogundeji through his Lawyer, Mr. Wale Omotoso (SAN) approached the court and described the decision of the assembly as nullity since the purported impeachment did not follow the constitutional requirements.

The lawmaker said that his purported removal contravened Order Two, Section 9(1-10) of the rules and standing order of the state’s House of Assembly, saying that the law required two-third majority of the members before any of the principal officers of the assembly could be impeached.

However, the assembly, through the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Charles Titiloye, said that the impeachment followed due process as the impeachment proceeding was served through substituted means.

In her verdict, Justice Osadebey said that the lawmaker was not given fair hearing as the purported impeachment had been carried out before a panel to investigate him was set up by the sssembly.

This, she held, was like putting the cart before the horse. She said that the claimant was not personally served by the impeachment proceedings, which made it a nullity.

Also, the judge said that there was no parliamentary resolution before the purported impeachment was carried out and that not all members were present during the impeachment as required by the rules of the assembly and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The court held that signing of parliamentary meeting attendance was not tantamount to consent as nine out of 26-member assembly dissociated themselves from the purported impeachment.

Subsequently, the court ordered that Ogundeji should be reinstated and all his entitlements paid up-to-date while his paraphernalia of office should be restored immediately just as the appointment of Aderoboye was described as nullity.

Justice Osadebey awarded N10 million as damages for the humiliation suffered by the lawmaker during his purported impeachment and suspension from the assembly.