The Godfather and the Governor: How Lamidi
Adedibu Removed Rashidi Ladoja as Oyo State
Governor by Onigegewura
The Speaker knew something was wrong
immediately he entered the chambers of the
parliament. For a moment he wondered if he had
stepped into a wrong building. But the inscription
on the building was bold and clear: Oyo State
House of Assembly. It was not a wrong building.
But something was still amiss. On the seat
reserved for him as the Speaker, an apparent
stranger was already seated holding the gavel.
Well, not really an apparent stranger. The seat
was occupied by a fellow lawmaker who was
also the Deputy Speaker. “What insolence!”
Abraham Adeleke, the Speaker, thought as he
marched briskly towards the usurper. Laiku ekìri,
ta lo le fi awo ra da gbedu [Who could use the
skin of a live animal to make a drum?]
With all the dignity he could muster under the
circumstance, he ordered his Deputy, Taiwo
Oluyemi, to vacate his seat. Oluyemi did not
even acknowledge his presence. He continued
flipping through the documents on the table as
though he was not the person being addressed.
Adeleke, now towering over the seated figure,
repeated his order in a very loud voice. Oluyemi
refused to budge. By this time, other
parliamentarians had started assembling behind
either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, urging
their respective choice not to yield.
Oluyemi raised his head a little to make a mental
count of his supporters. They were 17. He smiled
for the first time. He was emboldened by the
number. The speaker’s crowd was smaller, they
were 12 in number. There was a lone lawmaker
who appeared undecided whether to go with
Oluyemi or Adeleke. He continued to look from
one to the other. Finally he moved toward the
smaller camp, the speaker’s camp. It was now
18 to 14.
The historic Parliament Building which foundation
was laid in 1955 by Sir John Rankine and which
was opened in February 1956 by Her Majesty the
Queen erupted! Adeleke was being urged to push
the imposter from the seat. “I am the Speaker”
He bellowed. Oluyemi, who was holding tightly to
both the chair and the table, responded: “I am in
the majority”. Parliamentary decorum was thrown
to the winds. The hallowed chambers became a
circus. Chairs were being used freely as weapons
of mass destruction. Traders in Dugbe market
would have been proud of the bedlam.
Oluyemi realized that Adeleke and his group,
though smaller in number, were not ready to
concede either the seat or the title of the
speaker to him. He made a sign to his
supporters. They all made their way out of the
chambers. Cars and buses appeared as if on
cue. They trooped in and the convoy moved off
at speed.
Civil servants heard the commotion going on in
the House. They all abandoned their offices and
came out to witness the drama. They scampered
out of the way as the vehicles carrying the
legislators sped out of the State Secretariat.
“Where are they going?” A young man asked the
elderly man beside him. The old man, who
appeared to be a visitor to the seat of power,
shook his head. “I don’t know. That was the
same question I asked when I was your age
when I witnessed a similar incident in 1962!”
If the young man had asked Onigegewura, I
would have told him that I knew where the 18
parliamentarians were going.
They moved to Ozemire Hall in the popular
D’Rovans Hotel along Ring Road. They quickly
arranged themselves. At exactly 12.30pm, Hon.
Taiwo Oluyemi from Ibarapa Constituency was
led into the hall by the sergeant at arms. The
first thing they did was to appoint the former
Deputy Speaker as the Acting Speaker. That
done, the newly inaugurated speaker proclaimed
the Hotel hall as the new Chambers of Oyo State
Legislature.
Oluyemi, the acting Speaker, informed his
colleagues that as lawmakers, things must be
done according to the law. He told them that a
parliament must have a clerk to record
proceedings. He therefore appointed Babatunde
Eesuola from Atiba Constituency as the new
Clerk of the House.
By now, popular politicians in the State had
begun to arrive at the makeshift chambers. They
were duly recognized by the new speaker. It was
apparent that something was going to happen.
And it soon happened. A motion was moved to
serve a notice of impeachment on the Governor,
Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja, for alleged gross
misconduct. The motion was not opposed.
Back at the Parliament Building, the 14
lawmakers were also not idle. At 2.30pm, the
assistant sergeant at arms (I hope you
remember that the substantive sergeant at arms
had followed Oluyemi’s group) led in the
Speaker. Following the parliamentary ‘coup’
staged by Oluyemi, the House declared his
position vacant. Hon. Titilola Ademola Dauda
was elected as the new Deputy Speaker.
Like in 1962, when Ibadan (and the Western
Region) had two Premiers, Ibadan (and Oyo
State) in 2005 had two Houses of Assembly; one
in the Parliament Building in the Secretariat, the
other in the Ozemire Hall in D’Rovans Hotel. And
like in 1962, that singular act would set in motion
a chain of events that even the principal actors
could not have foreseen.
Alhaji Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu
Alhaji Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu, the [then] Ekarun
Olubadan of Ibadanland was the undisputed king
as well as the kingmaker of Oyo State politics.
His word was the law. Many years earlier, Yusuf
Olatunji, the legendary doyen of sakara music
had recognized the immense influence of Alaafin
Molete when he described him as idameji Ibadan
ti won n pe ni enikan [one man that was half of
Ibadan]. In effect, Baba L’Egba meant that if you
divided Ibadan into two halves, everybody and
institution in Ibadan would form one half, the
generalissimo of politics would constitute the
other half! That was Lamidi Adedibu! The Lion of
Ibadan! The Emperor of Molete.
Anyone supported by Lamidi Adedibu was certain
of becoming the eventual winner. It was
therefore not a surprise when Rashidi Adewolu
Ladoja, the [then] Bada Olubadan emerged as
the 15th Governor of Oyo State in 2003. He was
nominated and anointed for the position by the
strongman himself. He was not the only one
nominated. Alaafin Molete also nominated the
Deputy Governor. That was not all. Two of his
nominees won as the Senators of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. He single handedly
nominated most of the 32 members of the
House of Assembly and all of the 351 councilors
in the State. They all won.
However things soon fell apart when it was
apparent that Ladoja was not ready to run a
puppet government.
The first crack appeared when it was time to
appoint cabinet members and members of
boards of governing councils of government
corporations. Adedibu had expected Ladoja to
ask him for nominees. The governor however had
a different idea.
Rashidi Ladoja
Oyo State was a member of Oodua Group of
Companies, owned by the governments of Oyo,
Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Ogun States. The practice
was to rotate the chairmanship of the
conglomerate among member states. It was the
turn of Oyo State to nominate the chairman at
the material time. Loyal party members angling
for the plum position had submitted their CVs to
the Ekaarun Olubadan. It was over the radio that
Adedibu heard that Ladoja had appointed Karimu
Latunji as the Chairman! Adedibu knew it must
be a mistake. He summoned the governor.
Ladoja confirmed that his nominee was very
competent for the job.
The next position was the Chairman of the
Governing Council of Ladoke Akintola University.
Adedibu did not wait this time around for the
Governor to make any announcement. Ina esisi
kii jooni lemeji. [A clever person does not make
the same mistake twice] He went with his
nominee to Agodi to meet with the Governor.
“Your Excellency, this is the Chairman of
LAUTECH!” He was shocked when His Excellency
informed him that one Adegbite had been
appointed. Adegbite from where? From Agbeni or
Oke Ado?
It was becoming clear that Ladoja was getting
too big for his shoes. Bi o ti le wu ki alagbaro ga
to, eni ti o gbe oko fun loga e [No matter how
tall the labourer is, the owner of the farm who
employs him is his boss]. Ladoja was the
labourer. Adedibu was the owner of the farm.
Loyal party members who had expected to
recoup their political investment from the
governor also began to grumble. Nothing was
forthcoming from the state treasury.
If the issue had been limited to political
appointments, perhaps it could have been
tolerable. However, the Governor was also not
making financial returns to his chief investor and
promoter. According to Adedibu: “Ladoja was too
greedy. He was collecting N65 million as security
vote every month. You know that governors don’t
account for security votes. He was to give me
N15 million of that every month. He reneged.
Later, it was reduced to N10 million, yet he did
not give me. That was why I disowned him…”
It was decided that Ladoja must go. The
legislators were all summoned to Molete. The
meeting had only one agenda. Rashidi Ladoja
must be impeached. There was only one small
challenge. Not all the parliamentarians were
convinced that the governor should be removed.
A parliamentarian informed Baba Adedibu that
under the Constitution, two-third majority was
required. Baba retorted sharply: “Majority is
majority. Go and do your job!”
Alaafin Molete
Let us follow Onigegewura back to D’Rovans
Hotel. The chieftains present congratulated
Oluyemi, the ‘acting speaker’, for the successful
motion of the notice to impeach the governor.
The next question was how to serve the
governor with the notice of alleged gross
misconduct. Someone suggested that service
could be effected through newspaper publication.
It was a brilliant idea that everyone accepted.
The people of Oyo State woke up on December
14 to see the advertorial in The Tribune. The
paper became the hottest commodity in the city
of Ibadan. Vendors began to use the paper to
sell other newspapers. For you to buy Tribune,
you must buy two other newspapers. By 10am,
no single copy of The Tribune could be found
anywhere.
The notice itself was a two-paragraph letter
addressed to the Governor. It reads:
“I hereby write to convey to you the receipt of
enclosed Notice of Impeachment from the
Majority Members of the House of Assembly.
The said Notice is hereby forwarded to you for
your reaction in compliance with section 188(2)
(a) and (b) of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, 1999.”
It was signed “Taiwo Oluyemi Adewale, Deputy
Speaker Oyo State House of Assembly”.
Abraham Adeleke was one of the first sets of
people in Ibadan to read The Tribune on
December 14. He saw the notice published at
the instance of Oyo State Legislature and signed
by his Deputy who had been removed. He
immediately got across to his colleagues [the
Ladoja Parliamentarians]. It was decided that a
counter notice be issued. The Disclaimer was
published the following day. The notice urged the
governor “to ignore and discountenance the said
Notice and publication” on the ground that
Adeleke as the authentic Speaker of the Oyo
State House of Assembly had “not given or
consented to the issuance of any Notice…”
Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja knew that he had called
so-n-so, and he must see so-n-so. He had dared
the godfather and he must be prepared to pay
the price. He called his lawyer to find out
whether he could be removed as the governor of
the state. His counsel was Yusuf Olaolu Alli, a
brilliant Senior Advocate who was popularly
called Mallam. Alli was called to the Bar in 1983
and became a Senior Advocate fourteen years
later in 1997. Alli read the provisions of section
188 of the Constitution carefully. It was a very
long provision containing 584 words. Alli read
every word.
Yusuf Alli SAN
Mallam Alli found out that whilst one-third of the
members was required to sign notice of
allegation against the governor, two-third of the
members was required to support the motion for
removal. There were 32 members in the House.
18 members were in support of removing the
governor, 14 members were against. Alli found
that pro-Adedibu 18 was not up to the required
2/3. The governor did his arithmetic. He agreed
with his lawyer. He was happy.
It was as if the pro-Adedibu lawmakers were
privy to the legal advice issued by the governor’s
counsel. They came out with a public notice
where they informed the members of the public
that the membership of the House was no longer
32 but 25! According to the publication, 7 pro-
Ladoja members had been suspended. I know
you are already working out what two-third of 25
is!
The Ladoja Parliamentarians were shocked by
this publication which they knew was done to
circumvent the provision of section 188. They
came out with their own publication where they
informed the good people of Oyo State that five
pro-Adedibu lawmakers, including their acting
speaker, Hon. Oluyemi Taiwo Adewale, had been
suspended from further parliamentary activities.
With the publication, Team Adedibu had
technically been reduced to 13!
On Thursday, December 22, the two factions
converged at the Parliament Building [not the
one at D’Rovans Hotel]. In a twinkle of an eye,
the State Secretariat had become a theatre of
war. Fierce fighting erupted between supporters
of the two factions. In the battle, gunshots could
be heard all over the secretariat. The seat of
government was enveloped with smoke of tear
gas. Civil servants fled in all directions. No one
waited ‘to be directed by a superior officer’ as
was the norm in public service before fleeing.
Eni ori yo, o di ile!
Oyo State Secretariat
The younger ones did not hesitate before scaling
the fence surrounding the secretariat. The
elderly and the women ran in the direction of the
swamp behind the Revenue House. Shouts of “I
will not die in the name of Jesus! I will survive
this in sha Allah” could be heard as the public
servants ducked from the flying bullets.
At the end of the day, charms, expended gun
bullets, and vandalized furniture littered the
entire compound. When it was all over,
government put the value of properties destroyed
at N450 million.
It was after the fracas which had lasted for more
than five hours died down that Team Adedibu
managed to gain control of the House of
Assembly. Ijafara l’ewu [Delay is dangerous]. A
motion was quickly moved to call on the acting
Chief Judge to set up a panel to investigate the
allegations against the governor. The motion was
not opposed. The proceeding lasted less than 45
minutes.
Hon. Adeleke and his colleagues in Ladoja Team
were alarmed at this turn of events. They did
two things simultaneously. They wrote the Chief
Judge of Oyo State informing His Lordship that
there was no sitting of the House on December
22 and that the House did not move any motion
to request His Lordship to set up any panel.
They also briefed Chief Adeniyi Akintola, a Senior
Advocate who was worth his weight in pure gold.
Since his call to Bar in 1986 Akintola had left no
one in doubt that he was destined for the top of
the legal profession. He was brilliant and
dedicated. He reviewed the facts of the case
and like Mallam Alli, he also came to the
conclusion that Adedibu Legislators as
constituted could not validly remove the
governor. His clients were happy. They asked
him to proceed to court.
Niyi Akintola SAN
Akintola was in court very early the following
morning. The case was assigned to my Lord,
Hon. Justice John Olagoke Ige. Akintola made
powerful submissions before His Lordship. At the
end of the day, he succeeded in moving the
court to grant an order that status quo be
maintained by all the parties. The substantive
matter was adjourned to December 28. Ladoja
Legislators had gained a reprieve, even if
temporary.
In the papers he filed in court, Akintola
challenged the actions of Adedibu Legislators as
being unconstitutional, null and void. The actions
being challenged include: the purported sitting at
D’Rovans Hotel, Ring Road Ibadan; the service of
notice of allegation of gross misconducts on
Ladoja through a newspaper; and the purported
motion passed by the lawmakers calling for the
investigation of allegation of misconduct,
amongst others.
The Adedibu parliamentarians were promptly
served with the court processes. Upon being
served [and this is very important, please pay
attention], they did not file a memorandum of
appearance. They also did not file a counter-
affidavit to the affidavit in support of originating
summons. [An affidavit is a statement of fact.
To oppose the facts, you must file a counter-
affidav
it.]. Rather, they reacted by filing a notice of
preliminary objection. The effect of this was to
challenge the jurisdiction of the court. In a
layman’s language, they argued that the court
had no jurisdiction to hear the case. [Please note
that this case was between Adedibu Legislators
and Ladoja Parliamentarians. Ladoja was not a
party to this case, at this stage.]
Adewolu Ladoja, the man at the centre of the
crisis, was not sitting down comfortably in the
Government House. He directed his counsel,
Mallam Alli, to proceed to the court to challenge
his impending impeachment. Alli, in his
characteristic diligent manner, did not stop
there. He also filed a motion for injunction to
restrain the 18-member faction from proceeding
with the impeachment plan. The case was
adjourned to January 13 for hearing.
On December 28, Chief Akintola, Senior Advocate
led the legal team that appeared for Hon.
Adeleke and Co. Messrs. Lekan Latinwo and
Michael Lana led the team that appeared for
Hon. Taiwo Oluyemi and his group in the Pro-
Adedibu camp. Akintola put up spirited argument
on why the court ought to hear the case. Messrs
Latinwo and Lana maintained their position that
the court had no jurisdiction to even consider the
case.
The city of Ibadan waited with bated breath for
the decision of the court. From Molete to
Moniya, from Agodi to Apata Ganga, from
Egbeda to Elekuro, there was no other matter
being discussed. In all buses and offices, it was
the case of the century that was being
discussed.
His Lordship knew that time was of the essence,
Hon. Justice Ige was therefore determined to
hear and determine the case that day. No
adjournment would be granted. After copious
submissions by counsel, the ruling was finally
ready by 5pm.
There was tight security around the court as His
Lordship began to deliver the ruling of the
court.. Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu was waiting in his
Molete Palace. Governor Ladoja was close to his
phones in the Governor’s Lodge. Everyone waited
tensely to hear what the court was going to
decide.
In a considered judgment, His Lordship held that
the court was inclined to agree with the position
canvassed on behalf of Adedibu Legislators.
According to the court: “When the House of
Assembly is exercising its constitutional powers
in relation to impeachment proceedings or any
matter relating thereto, it is performing a quasi
judicial function….It is clear beyond argument
that the jurisdiction of this court is clearly
ousted. Impeachment and related proceedings
are purely political matters over which this court
cannot intervene.” Case dismissed!
In other words, the court had no jurisdiction.
Ladoja should accept his fate!
That was the end of Round One. Adedibu
Parliamentarians 1: Ladoja Legislators 0!
Another case was quickly filed by Team Ladoja.
They were represented again by Chief Akintola.
This time around, the acting Chief Judge was
made a party to the suit. They sought an order
to restrain the Chief Judge from constituting an
investigative panel. The case was adjourned to
January 20. In order words, the two cases
[Ladoja’s case filed by Yusuf Alli, SAN and the
Pro Ladoja Legislators’ case filed by Niyi
Akintola, SAN] were adjourned to January 13 and
20 respectively. If only the experienced
advocates knew what was about to happen…
On January 4, 2006, His Lordship, the acting
Chief Judge, went ahead and inaugurated the
panel to investigate the alleged acts of gross
misconducts against Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, the
governor of Oyo State.
The panel sat for two days. The panel did not
take oral evidence from the governor or from
anybody for that matter. On January 12, 2006 - a
day before Ladoja’s case was scheduled to come
up for hearing - the panel submitted its report to
the Adedibu Parliamentarians. The report was
quickly considered and in a proceeding which
lasted less than 30 minutes, the 18 members
summarily passed a resolution impeaching the
High Chief of Ibadan, Alhaji Senator Rashidi
Adewolu Ladoja as the governor of the State.
“E kare, eyin omo Akin! Oke Ibadan yoo gbeyin!
Be e lomokunrin n se!” Lamidi Adedibu was
reported to have congratulated Hon. Taiwo
Oluyemi and his 17 colleagues for the successful
operation conducted with military alacrity and
political precision.
That was the end of Round Two: Adedibu
Legislators 2: Ladoja Parliamentarians 0!
Ladoja knew that he was up against a formidable
opponent. Okuta meji ni baba ekuro [Two stones
are the bane of palm kernel]. Lamidi Adedibu
was the kingmaker and the king remover. He had
installed and removed Ladoja as the Governor.
But Ladoja was not about to go down without a
fight.
I hope you recall that the case just decided was
between the two factions of the parliament of
Oyo State. Ladoja was not a party to this case
before Hon. Justice Ige as Onigegewura told you
earlier.
Naturally, Honourable Abraham Adeleke and his
team were not happy with the decision of the
court. Ladoja was also not pleased either.
Adeleke and his deputy, Titilayo Ademola Dauda,
who were the plaintiffs before Justice Ige
decided to appeal the decision. It was at the
Court of Appeal that Ladoja was joined as ‘party
interested’.
At the Court of Appeal, a glittering galaxy of
brilliant advocates represented the parties. The
Ladoja Parliamentarians were represented by a
formidable team led by 5 Senior Advocates. Chief
Wole Olanipekun who had become a legal
institution led the team. He was assisted by an
erudite Professor of Law, Taiwo Osipitan; the
senior Advocate who would later become a
Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu was also in the
team; Kola Awodein, a counsel noted for his
forensic skill as a litigator and the cerebral
Adeniyi Akintola were amongst the other Senior
lawyers in the team.
Wole Olanipekun SAN
Mallam Yusuf Alli led another crop of seasoned
courtroom war veterans which include F.
Fashanu, a Senior Advocate, T. Okusokan and K.
K. Eleja. They appeared for the impeached
Governor Ladoja who had been joined as the
party interested. After all, a kii fari lehin olori
[You don’t shave someone’s hairs in his
absence].
The victorious party at the trial court, the
Adedibu Legislators, were represented by the
Oyo State Leader of the Bar, Michael Lana, who
was the Attorney General. He was ably assisted
by two Senior Advocates whose mastery of
advocacy was never in doubt, Messrs Ayanlaja
and Lateef Fagbemi.
The counsel for the parties demonstrated why
they were all conferred with the prestigious title
of Senior Advocate. Each team represented its
client to the best of its ability. Wole Olanipekun
was reeling out legal authorities with the ease of
a professional magician. Yusuf Alli was
mentioning one case after another as if he was
reciting from the Quran. Mr. Ayanlaja matched
his silk brothers authority for authority.
The Court of Appeal listened carefully to the
submissions of all the counsel. In its judgment,
the Court of Appeal disagreed with the High
Court of Oyo State that it had no jurisdiction. The
Court held that the High Court indeed had
jurisdiction and that the trial court should have
gone ahead to hear the case of the pro-Ladoja
Parliamentarians.
Now, the Court of Appeal did something. What?
Wait for it. I hope you remember that
Onigegewura had told you that pro-Adedibu
legislators filed only a notice of preliminary
objection without filing a counter-affidavit
[statement of facts to oppose what is contained
in an affidavit].
So what did the Court of Appeal do? Instead of
returning the case to the High Court to be
retried, the appellate court decided to try the
case in order to save time. Yes, the Court of
Appeal has this power. Every lawyer knows about
section 16 of the Court of Appeal Act. Since the
Adedibu Legislators had no counter-affidavit, the
Court held that the facts filed by Ladoja
Parliamentarians were uncontested and were
therefore admitted by the Adedibu Legislators.
According to the Court: “No factional meeting of
any members of a State House of Assembly can
amount to a constitutional meeting of the whole
House of Assembly as envisaged and provided
for by the Constitution. There was no counter
affidavit before the lower Court to prove that any
member of the House of Assembly of Oyo State
was suspended or that the plaintiffs/
appellants were removed as Speaker and Deputy
Speaker…It follows therefore that all the steps
taken by the faction of the defendants/
respondents purporting to initiate impeachment
of Senator Ladoja as the Governor of Oyo State
were not actions of the Oyo State House of
Assembly.”
In a nutshell, the Court held that Ladoja was
never removed as the Governor!
That was the end of Round 3! Ladoja had won!
The decision of the Court of Appeal on
November 1, 2006 – 9 months after Ladoja was
impeached – threw the palace and the camp of
Alaafin Molete into turmoil. I hope you know that
Ladoja’s erstwhile Deputy, Christopher Alao-
Akala, had been sworn in as the Governor of Oyo
State. Baba Adedibu’s Personal Assistant,
Hazeem Gbolarumi, had been appointed as the
new Deputy Governor.
Christopher Alao-Akala
With the new development, Alao-Akala became
one of the few people in the world who would
hold office as a substantive Deputy Governor,
Governor, and back to Deputy Governor, all in the
course of a single year!
Afowo fonna kii duro ro ejó [someone holding
burning ember doesn’t wait to chat]. Adedibu
Legislators didn’t have the luxury of time. The
game had changed, courtesy of the Judiciary.
They flew to Abuja to file an appeal against the
decision of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.
Supreme Court
At the apex court, a total of 22 counsel, inclusive
of 1 Attorney General, 4 Senior Advocates, 1
Professor of Law, appeared for Adedibu
Legislators. 20 counsel, including 5 senior
Advocates, 1 professor of Law, two gentlemen
who soon became senior advocates, and a
gentleman who is a serving Minister in the
Buhari Administration, represented Ladoja
Parliamentarians. For the Governor himself, His
Excellency was led by 16 senior counsel of
whom 3 were Senior Advocates [one of them
became Attorney General of the Federation
later]. The Oyo State House of Assembly was
also represented. Four counsel appeared for the
parliament. It was indeed a landmark case!
The first thing the Supreme Court discovered
was as shocking as it was elementary. If I ask
you what took the parties to the court, what
would your answer be? Impeachment of Ladoja?
Yes, I knew that’s what you were going to say.
The final Court in Nigeria read through section
188 of the Constitution and discovered that there
was no mention of the word ‘impeachment’ in
the section! You have learnt something new, abi?
Let’s move on [Don’t worry, I am getting to the
end of the story]…
Justice Niki Tobi read the judgment of the Court.
His Lordship found that the pro-Adedibu
lawmakers, in their haste to remove Ladoja from
office, contravened the provisions of section 188
on at least six different occasions. These
include: holding of the meeting of parliament in
D’Rovans Hotel; absence and non-service of
constitutional notice of allegation against the
governor; failure to obtain two-thirds majority;
and non-involvement of the Speaker.
The Court held that a House of Assembly must
be a physical building provided for that purpose. I
hope you remember the case of Akintola v.
Adegbenro as narrated by Onigegewura in the
story of Two Premiers and a Governor. The
Supreme Court cited the case on this point.
The Court agreed with the Court of Appeal that
to return the case to the High Court to enable
Adedibu Group to file their counter-affidavit
would amount to a waste of time. The Court
found that the group was so “miserly in the way
they approached the court in this matter… All
their strategy was to delay the proceedings till
May 29, 2007 to make the judgment of this court
barren or useless… what type of cleverness is
that? What type of smartness is that? What type
of trick is that?”
The Supreme Court therefore held that Senator
Rashidi Ladoja was illegally removed by the
Adedibu Legislators. According to the apex court:
“Senator Ladoja remains the legally,
constitutionally and democratically elected
Governor of Oyo State.”
Rashidi Ladoja
For the second and final time, Ladoja had won! It
was a decisive victory! It was a victory for
democracy and rule of law.
What happened when Ladoja got back to the
Government House in Ibadan? What was Baba
Adedibu’s reaction to the Supreme Court
judgment? What happened to the State Attorney
General who argued against Ladoja? What
happened to Ladoja’s Deputy who became the
Governor?
Ha! That’s another story….
I thank you very warmly for reading the story to
the end.
-Olanrewaju Onigegewura©
History Does Not Forget
The right of Olanrewaju Onigegewura© to be
identified as the author of stories published on
this blog has been asserted by him in
accordance with the copyright law's
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