The gale of illegal impeachment of state governors in Nigeria has finally met a firm resistance. The Supreme Court has reinstated Rasheed Ladoja as the governor of Oyo state in a landmark judgement delivered in Abuja.
Six out of the seven justices of the court upheld the decision of the Appeal Court which had earlier declared the impeachment of Ladoja null and void. In Ibadan, Ladoja’s chiefest foe, Lamidi Adedibu, who had boasted that the Supreme Court was powerless in reinstating Ladoja, banged the phone on our reporter, who had attempted to seek his view on the judgement.
Represented by Justice Kutigi, the six supreme court justices held that time was of essence in the determination of the case because it would go into extinction in the next five months. The justices dismissed the appeal instituted by the 18 lawmakers of the Oyo State House of Assembly who impeached Governor Ladoja. In his reaction to the judgement, Yusuf Alli SAN, counsel to Ladoja, praised the Supreme Court, stating that the judgement had vindicated the position of Ladoja, who he said, believes in the rule of law. He thanked the apex court for giving voice to the voiceless. In his own comment Wole Olanipekun(SAN), counsel to the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Abraham Adeolu Adeleke and deputy speaker, Titilayo Ademola, expressed profound gratitude to the Supreme Court for saving Nigeria’s democracy.
Counsel to the 18 legislators who impeached Ladoja, Ayanlaja, also saluted the courage of the Supreme Court justices on the judgement. There was wild jubilation by Ladoja supporters in the court immediately the judgement was delivered. In Ibadan, most people, by 1p.m were not aware of the judgement yet and so the situation was calm. At the Agodi Secretariat, most workers were also unaware of the judgement. And an attempt to get the reaction of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu on the judgement drew an angry response as he banged the phone.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, has vowed to enforce the Supreme Court ruling, clearing the way for Ladoja’s return to power. His stance contradicted his earlier ambivalent reaction to the Appeal Court ruling which reinstated Ladoja on 1 November. The police boss initially said he would respect the rule of law, but later said he was not ready to enforce the Appeal Court ruling. He was roundly condemened by lawyers and the NBA. On 1 November, 2006 the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan had declared the impeachment of Ladoja as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.
Reinstating the governor, the presiding Judge, J. O. Ogebe, ruled that if the incumbent administration led by Christopher Alao-Akala goes to Supreme Court, it would not win, stressing that the process of the impeachment of Governor Ladoja was absolutely faulty. Among the eight faulty processes were: the sitting of legislators in an hotel rather than the State House of Assembly to deliberate on the impeachment, sending the notice of impeachment through the newspapers; impeachment carried out by 18 rather than 22 legislators; unavailability of affidavit of suspension; the time-frame of the process; and the declaration of lack of jurisdiction by the High Court, thereby declaring the process null and void. Many lawyers hailed the ruling as a victory for democracy and a lesson to Nigerians in general.
Ladoja was impeached on Thursday, January 12, 2006 by a group of 18 legislators, loyal to Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu. The impeachment resembled a military coup, as it was done with the partisan support of the Oyo State police command and the top echelon of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In the run up to the impeachment, PDP’s chairman, Ahmadu Ali even characterised Adedibu as the “garrison commander” of Oyo State. Following Ladoja’s clearly illegal impeachment, his deputy, Alao-Akala was sworn in as the state governor.
The injustice and illegality of Ladoja’s removal spurred a massive protest on 23 January in Ibadan, Oyo State as thousands of people took to the streets. During the protest, the chairman of Campaign for Democracy (CD) Moshood Erubami was attacked and arrested by the police. Ladoja, who fought the impeachment process all the way in the court, swiftly challenged the impeachment. The legal battle which was initiated by three lawmakers namely Hassan Ogundoke, Babatunde Olaniran and Jacob Oyekun, had suffered many hitches following the controversial withdrawal of former judge, M. Bolaji Yusuf from the matter. The case was later reopened by a Court of Appeal in Ibadan. The case was referred to the Appeal Court, whose ruling affirmed that Ladoja has a right to challenge his removal.
