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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Oyo State Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, has responded to allegations levelled against him by Oyo State House of Assembly, following impeachment process initiated against him by the lawmakers.
Spokesman for the Assembly, Kazeem Olayanju, stated this when he featured on a radio programme monitored in Ibadan, yesterday. He said Olaniyan’s response would be read at the plenary next Wednesday.
His response was said to have been sent by his legal counsel the clerk of the Assembly four days to the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum given to him by the lawmakers.
The impeachment move was initiated after Olaniyan, a retired permanent secretary, defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) as a result of purported frosty relationship between him and Governor Seyi Makinde.
The Office of the Deputy Governor has, however, been moved to the Ministry of Environment, where he is expected to discharge his duties.
The letter that initiated the impeachment move was dated June 9, 2022, and was received same day in the Office of the Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin. It was entitled: ‘Petition and Notice of Allegations of the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency Engineer Rauf Olaniyan.’
The letter surfaced barely two weeks after Olaniyan dumped PDP for APC. In the petition read during the plenary, 24 lawmakers levelled five allegations against Olaniyan, bordering on gross misconduct, abuse of office, financial recklessness, abandonment of office and official duty, and insubordination and other offences.
Speaker Adebo Ogundoyin said the petition met the two-third requirements to initiate the impeachment process against the deputy governor. He said the lawmakers would give the deputy governor a seven-day ‘grace period’ to respond to the allegations, which would end on Wednesday June 22.
He, however, warned that failure to respond to the allegations within seven days could lead to the commencement of impeachment move.
