The Osun State House of Assembly is divided over the composition of an ad hoc committee to investigate the allegations of financial recklessness levelled against Governor Rauf Aregbesola by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede.
Oloyede, a serving judge in Osun State Judiciary, had written a petition to the House against the governor asking the lawmakers to impeach him based on the allegations contained in her petition.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Najeem Salaam, on Thursday inaugurated a seven-man committee headed by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Akintunde Adegboye. He stated that they had two weeks to investigate the matters and report back to the House.
Although the ruling All Progressives Congress has 24 lawmakers out of the 26 members in the House, none of the two Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers was included in the committee.
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When asked why the House excluded lawmakers from the opposition party in the committee, the Speaker explained that the House of Assembly was one as there was no division among the legislators along party lines.
The Speaker said that it would be necessary for the petitioner and the governor to appear before the committee which would sit in camera.
He expressed the confidence that the committee would do a thorough job and send their report to the House where every lawmaker would have an opportunity to comment on their findings.
He said, “I acknowledge that the whole world is waiting for what we have to do with the petition forwarded to us by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede. I must disclose to you that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has obliged us his response to the petition and we have constituted a committee to look into the matter with a view to investigating the allegations levelled against him and I am confident that the honourable men in this committee would do justice to the matter before them without fear or favour.
“The House stands as one; there is no opposition in the House. We are one, we see ourselves as one.
“The two of them – the judge and the governor – will be invited separately. Some of them can employ the services of lawyers but their physical appearance will be necessary. This will allow them to give evidence to back up their positions if they have any.”
But the Minority Leader, Mr. Oladejo Makinde, a PDP member, who represents Ife Central at the House, kicked against the exclusion of the members of the PDP from the committee.
While speaking with journalists after the inauguration of the committee, Makinde said he disagreed with the explanation of the Speaker, saying there was no way the ‘lopsided committee’ would be transparent against Aregbesola who is also from the ruling party.
