By Ken Afor
From all indications, the rift between the Ondo State Deputy Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his Principal, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, have been patched up following the former’s withdrawal of the lawsuit he filed to prevent his impeachment by the State House of Assembly.
Hon. Aiyedatiwa had on Monday through his lawyer, Mr Ebun-olu Adegboruwa (SAN), told the Federal High Court in Abuja he wished to withdraw the suit after the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, had intervened in the matter.
Other defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1294/2023 were the Governor of Ondo State; the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Chief Judge of Ondo State; the House of Assembly; the Inspector-General of Police; the Department of State Services.
The SAN mentioned that on October 6, Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the APC, established a reconciliation committee to mediate the conflict between some of the suit’s parties.
Continuation of the court proceedings, according to Adegboruwa, may thwart the APC leadership’s efforts at reconciliation.
Additionally, he noted that on October 3, 2023, the Ondo State House of Assembly petitioned the National Judicial Council to dismiss Justice Emeka Nwite as the presiding judge.
In order to proceed with the case, he urged the court to hold on until the NJC had decided on the petition.
But the counsel for the Ondo State Governor and Chief Judge, Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN) and Mutalib Ojo (SAN), opposed Adegboruwa and urged the court to proceed with the case.
The Ondo Assembly had already withdrawn the petition against the judge, according to Femi Emodamori, counsel for the Assembly.
Aiyedatiwa had requested in the lawsuit an order of interim injunction barring Akeredolu, his servants, or privies from intimidating, harassing, or embarrassing him or preventing him from performing his duties as the deputy governor of Ondo State.
The court had granted his requests and continued the case until Monday in order to hear the main issue.
It would be recalled that the rift between Hon. Aiyedatiwa and his principal, Akeredolu started when the State Assembly indicted him for gross misconduct.
The deputy governor was accused of allegedly diverting the sum of N300 million from the palliatives fund for the purchase of an amoured SUV for personal use without the consent of the governor while he was on medical leave in Germany – an allegation the deputy governor had denied.
