The Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi,
has set up a seven-man investigative panel to probe the
state’s deputy governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, who has been
accused of gross misconduct.
Olanusi had, on Tuesday, been issued with a notice of
impeachment by the Ondo State House of Assembly, which
listed seven impeachable offences, including gross misconduct,
sabotage, financial misappropriation and truancy, against the
deputy governor.
The impeachment move came barely three weeks after Olanusi
defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to the All
Progressives Congress few hours to the March 28 presidential
election.
The House had, on Wednesday, directed the Chief Judge to
set up the panel to probe Olanusi on the allegations contained
in the impeachment notice endorsed by 20 out of the 26
members of the House on Tuesday.
In a letter dated April 23, 2015, Kumuyi said he had heeded
the call of the House to set up the panel, pursuant to Section
188(5) of the Constitution.
The CJ’s letter revealed that the seven-man impeachment
panel would be chaired by a retired Chief Magistrate in the
state, Mr. Olatunji Adeniyan.
The members are Mr. Aladesanmi Akingbade, Mr.Ademola
Ekundayo, Mr. Richard Obafemi, Mr. Abraham Mathew, Alhaji
Ibrahim Shodeinde and Mrs. Eunice Yinka Obadele.
Kumuyi’s reply to the House read in part, “In line with the
provision of Section 188(5) of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I have set up a seven-
man panel to investigate the allegations against the Deputy
Governor as required by the Constitution.”
The Ondo lawmakers are accusing Olanusi of, among others,
“acting to undermine the office of the governor by causing
political disaffection and deliberately working at cross
purposes with the governor and the executive council of the
state with a view to destabilising the state government.”
The deputy governor is also accused of playing truancy,
particularly on April 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 and Monday, April
20, 2015, when he allegedly shunned official engagements
without lawful excuse or official authorisation.
Meanwhile, the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic
Party on Thursday accused Olanusi of making “desperate
moves to procure an order of interim injunction to halt the
impeachment proceedings against him.”
In a statement in Akure by its Publicity Secretary, Banji
Okunmo, the PDP alleged that the All Progressives Congress
had perfected plans to import political thugs into the state to
unleash mayhem under the guise of solidarity protest in
defence of the deputy governor.
It alleged that the APC had mobilised political thugs to
destabilise Ondo.
“The deputy governor and his party have secured the
understanding of a GSM service provider, which will assist in
disseminating false information about the impeachment
process in order to discredit it,” the PDP alleged.
