‘Seun Ibukun-Oni, Abuja

 

DAILY COURIER – The Oyo State Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, has been removed by members of the State House of Assembly, following misconduct and a series of allegations levelled against him.

Olaniyan was removed by members of the House of Assembly on Monday, July 18, around 11:00 am.

The report of the panel set up to investigate him was read by the Majority Leader of the House, Sanjo Adedoyin, from Ogbomoso.

The deputy governor was found culpable and indicted of all allegations and complaints levelled against him.

The Assembly approved Olaniyan’s removal from office leaning on section 188 (9) of the 1999 constitution (as amended).

The deputy governor who dragged the assembly to court to halt his impeachment 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.

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.

The assembly however went ahead and directed the Chief judge of the state to set up a seven-man panel to investigate the deputy governor on allegation of gross misconduct.

Against the run of play, Justice Ladiran Akintola gave the lawmakers the go-ahead to continue with the impeachment process stating that the house had complied substantially with the provisions of the constitution, thereby dismissing the suit.

Olaniyan was elected in 2019 on a joint ticket with the incumbent Governor Seyi Makinde on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party but recently defected to the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress in the state.