Aregbesola’s Impeachment Threat: Tension mounts as letters flood state’s assembly

Tension was heightened in Osogbo, the Osun State chapter on Friday following a petition written by a serving judge in the state, Justice Folahanmi Oloyede, asking the state’s House of Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Rauf Aregbesola for his alleged mismanagement of the state’s resources. While some residents of the state backed Justice Oloyode’s call, others asked the assembly to ignore him.

To this end, series of letters had flooded the state’s assembly to this effect. A rights group, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice , CHRSJ, on its part, asked the state assembly to probe Aregbesola’s administration and begin his impeachment. Receiving the letter, the Deputy Chief Whip of the assembly, Adeyemi Taiwo, said the letter will be passed to the Speaker, Mr. Najeem Salaam. However, another group, Asiwaju Grassroot Foundation, AGF, has appealed to the House not to attach any seriousness to the judge’s petition. The group in a statement by its Coordinator, Comrade Adeboye Adebayo, urged the members of the assembly to consider the achievements of Aregbesola before acting on the alleged petition. The group said: "It would be recalled and noted that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came on board as the Governor of the State of Osun with high sense of good intentions and that reflected marvelously during his first term in office when he executed very many unique and laudable projects that gave the state accolades like the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme; OYES, which employed over 40,000 youths in the state and has become a template for implementation for other states. "Mr. Speaker sir, you will also recall that during the same period stated, workers’ salaries, pensions and other emoluments were paid as at when due including car loans, 13th Month Salaries and other fringed benefits to the work force in the State of Osun. "Things began to go the other way when financial meltdown hit the country through the mismanagement of the national economy by Jonathan’s led PDP government and it is worthy of note. "It was our governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola that firstly raised the alarm notifying the nation about the impending financial crisis that would hit us as a nation and also he raised the alarm sequentially over the rate at which oil theft were carried out, where 400,000 barrels of crude are stolen on the daily basis but everybody, especially Jonathan’s administration turned deaf ear and now we are all in this financial mess. "However, Justice Folahanmi Oloyede, is an eminent person whose views must be respected, but at the same time, in the broad interest of the generality of Osun people who had never had it so good when it comes to better governance and to put a stop to this is what Justice Oloyede’s petition is seeking. "In the interest of us, the people of the State of Osun, there must be a re-think. Mr. Speaker, Benue State owes workers to the tune of over 12 months, Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta; all Oil producing states owe workers with other 14 states in this mess, so it is not the State of Osun or our governor, Ogbeni Aregbesola alone in this and claiming that it is due to financial recklessness is unacceptable but rather financial mismanagement by Jonathan- led administration. ‘’Mr. Governor and his aides have taken their time explaining to the World the situation of things and efforts being made to resolve the situation including a recent meeting with President Muhammodu Buhari which will yield fruit in the next few days. …PDP lauds impeach’s move The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lauded the Osun State House of Assembly for commencing impeachment proceedings against Governor Rauf Aregbesola, describing it as a welcome development to save the state.

A judge in the state, Justice Oloyede Folahanmi, had earlier petitioned the state House of Assembly asking the members to institute impeachment proceedings against the governor and his deputy over alleged mismanagement of the state’s financial resources in accordance with Sections 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution. Reacting to the proceedings, the PDP in a statement berated the governor for his inability to pay the salaries of civil servants in the state, which it said were now “refugees in their own land, living on handouts from compassionate religious and corporate bodies”. The party said the governor is clueless on how to turn around the economic fortunes of the state, adding that Aregbesola himself had alluded to this in the past. It urged lawmakers to go ahead with the impeachment process irrespective of the pressure on them, noting that their stand will save their constituents from economic disaster. “We are aware of the tremendous pressure being brought upon the lawmakers by the insensitive leaders and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress within and outside of the state, but the lawmakers owe posterity and their generations unborn this moment of history to offer the state the last straw before it would collapse irretrievably. The party accused the governor of plotting to ‘kill’ the impeachment proceedings against him by whipping up political sentiments.