Osun Assembly moves to impeach Aregbesola constitutes panel to probe him

The Osun State House of Assembly is divided over the composition of an ad hoc committee
to investigate the allegations of financial recklessness levelled against Governor Rauf Aregbesola by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede.
Oloyede, a serving judge in Osun State Judiciary, had written a petition to the House
against the governor asking the lawmakers to impeach him based on the allegations
contained in her petition.

The Speaker of the House, Mr. Najeem Salaam, on Thursday inaugurated a seven-man
committee headed by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Akintunde Adegboye. He stated that they
had two weeks to investigate the matters and report back to the House.
Although the ruling All Progressives Congress has 24 lawmakers out of the 26
members in the House, none of the two Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers was
included in the committee.
When asked why the House excluded lawmakers from the opposition party in the
committee, the Speaker explained that the House of Assembly was one as there was
no division among the legislators along party lines.
The Speaker said that it would be necessary for the petitioner and the governor to
appear before the committee which would sit in camera.
He expressed the confidence that the committee would do a thorough job and send
their report to the House where every lawmaker would have an opportunity to comment
on their findings.
He said, “I acknowledge that the whole world is waiting for what we have to do with the
petition forwarded to us by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede. I must disclose to you that
Governor Rauf Aregbesola has obliged us his response to the petition and we have
constituted a committee to look into the matter with a view to investigating the
allegations levelled against him and I am confident that the honourable men in this
committee would do justice to the matter before them without fear or favour.
“The House stands as one; there is no opposition in the House. We are one, we see
ourselves as one.
“The two of them – the judge and the governor – will be invited separately. Some of
them can employ the services of lawyers but their physical appearance will be
necessary. This will allow them to give evidence to back up their positions if they have
any.”
But the Minority Leader, Mr. Oladejo Makinde, a PDP member, who represents Ife
Central at the House, kicked against the exclusion of the members of the PDP from the
committee.
While speaking with journalists after the inauguration of the committee, Makinde said he
disagreed with the explanation of the Speaker, saying there was no way the ‘lopsided
committee’ would be transparent against Aregbesola who is also from the ruling party.

Source : The punch