The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has withdrawn the lawsuit he had filed to prevent his impeachment by the Ondo State House of Assembly.
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.
However, during Monday’s hearing at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the decision to withdraw the suit was announced.
The lawsuit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1294/2023, named several defendants, including the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu; the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Bamidele Oloyelogun; the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Oluwatoyin Akeredolu; the House of Assembly itself; the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba; and the Department of State Services.
Aiyedatiwa’s lawyer, Mr. Ebun-olu Adegboruwa (SAN), informed the court that his client wished to withdraw the suit due to the intervention of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Adegboruwa, the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, had established a reconciliation committee on October 6, 2023, to mediate the ongoing dispute among the parties involved in the suit.
He argued that proceeding with the court case at this time could potentially hinder the reconciliation efforts led by the APC leadership.
In addition, he 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. As such, he requested that the court await the NJC’s decision on the petition before proceeding with the case.
However, lawyers representing the Ondo State Governor, Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN), and the Chief Judge of Ondo State, Mutalib Ojo (SAN), opposed Adegboruwa’s request and urged the court to continue with the case.
Femi Emodamori, counsel for the Ondo State House of Assembly, mentioned that the Assembly had already withdrawn its petition against Justice Nwite.
Justice Nwite adjourned the case until October 6 for a ruling.
