Deputy Governor of Ondo State Withdraws Lawsuit, Cites APC Reconciliation Efforts

The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has announced the withdrawal of his lawsuit aimed at preventing his impeachment by the Ondo State House of Assembly. This decision came to light during a recent hearing at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The lawsuit, which had been marked as FHC/ABJ/CS/1294/2023, named several high-profile defendants, including the Governor of Ondo State, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Chief Judge of Ondo State, the House of Assembly itself, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Department of State Services.

Mr. Ebun-olu Adegboruwa (SAN), the lawyer representing Aiyedatiwa, informed the court of his client’s desire to withdraw the case, citing the intervention of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the primary reason behind this decision.

Adegboruwa revealed that the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, had established a reconciliation committee on October 6th, aimed at mediating the ongoing dispute among the involved parties. He argued that continuing with the court case at this juncture could potentially hinder the reconciliation efforts spearheaded by the APC.

Furthermore, Adegboruwa noted that the Ondo State House of Assembly had submitted a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC) on October 3, 2023, against the presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite. Consequently, he urged the court to await the NJC’s decision on the petition before making any further decisions regarding the case.

However, lawyers representing the Ondo State Governor, Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN), and the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Mutalib Ojo (SAN), expressed their opposition to Adegboruwa’s request, advocating for the court to proceed with the case.

Femi Emodamori, counsel for the Ondo State House of Assembly, pointed out that the Assembly had already withdrawn its petition against Justice Nwite.

Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the case until October 6th for a ruling. Initially, Aiyedatiwa had sought an interim injunction to prevent Governor Akeredolu and others from harassing, intimidating, embarrassing, or obstructing him from performing his duties as the Deputy Governor of Ondo State. The court had granted this request, and the matter had been scheduled for a substantive hearing on Monday.