SaharaReporters reported on Monday that the Ondo State House of Assembly rejected a letter written by the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in which he advised that the Chief Judge should not set up a panel to probe him.
The deputy governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has insisted that the ex parte order of the Federal High Court Abuja, which barred the Chief Judge, State Assembly and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu from carrying out his impeachment is still in force.
SaharaReporters reported on Monday that the Ondo State House of Assembly rejected a letter written by the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in which he advised that the Chief Judge should not set up a panel to probe him.
The House through its Counsel, Femi Emodamori said that it was also not part of the reconciliation committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and hence, it could go ahead with the impeachment process.
But reacting to the statement, the Counsel to the Deputy Governor, Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa (SAN), stated categorically that the orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja made on 26th September 2023 remained in force, valid and subsisting.
According to him, all the various orders of injunction were made pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, adding that the motion on notice was still pending and has not been heard and determined.
He said, "It is not correct that an order of the federal high court automatically expires after fourteen days. This may be the case if the judge that granted the order did not direct otherwise.
"In this case, the judge directed otherwise by stating that the ORDERS will be in force until the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
"Furthermore, there are two applications filed by the defendants in the suit against the orders of the court, one by the Governor of Ondo State to set aside the orders and the other by the Ondo House of Assembly to stay execution of the orders.
"In law, an ex-parte order made pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice remains in force, valid, binding and subsisting until the said motion on notice is heard and determined.
"In any event, the pendency of the suits against the impeachment proceedings effectively tie the hands of the defendants from proceeding with or taking any step that may jeopardize the hearing of the cases on the merits. We must learn to respect the rule of law, the authority of the court and due process."