The Defeat Of Lamidi Adedibu

By

Adebisi Obafemi

obafemius@yahoo.com

 

No matter how long it takes the Yorubas’ says a stutterer will pronounce the word father.  In the same vein our elders say falsehood that is circulating for twenty years will be disprove in one day when the truth is made known. Sometimes it seems evil always triumph over good deeds but what the “righteous” need is a good dose of patience. The recent pronouncement of the Supreme Court confirming the reinstatement of Rashidi Ladoja as the Governor of Oyo State by the Appeal Court in Ibadan is a welcome development.

 

It is not a victory for Ladoja or the PDP as a political party; it is a victory for the rule of law and the sanctity of the Nigeria constitution. I know Rashidi Ladoja and his cohorts have been celebrating with expanded chest and broad big smiles, he will be mistaking however if he thinks Nigerians’ and the people of Oyo State supported him because they voted him in as Governor during the election in 2003.  To borrow a leaf from Bayo Ojo the present Attorney General, “even a Primary One kid knew” that the election that brought in Ladoja as Governor was rigged massively by the PDP and Lamidi Adedibu.

 

It will be recalled that Ladoja fell out of grace with Lamidi Adedibu his erstwhile political godfather over non-payment of “gratuity” using taxpayer money. When coercion and thuggery failed to convince Ladoja to pay the Chief from government money, Adedibu through his loyal eighteen Oyo State law makers decided to employ ancient mathematics using Richard Akinjide’s formula to impeach the sitting Governor.  In Adedibu’s mathematic textbook, two-third of thirty-two (32) is eighteen (18).  The law requires two-third of the thirty-two Oyo-State lawmakers to ratify the impeachment.  To fit a square peg into a round hole, fourteen of the thirty-two-law makers were suspended, leaving eighteen Adedibu’s loyalist to carry out the dirty work. 

 

We often hear the mantra particularly among lawyers and politicians that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. After the verdict of the Appeal Court, which was also confirmed by the Supreme Court, the general consensus was that confidence has been restored in the judiciary and the rule of law. It was a Judge; the present Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State who constituted an illegal panel that indicted Rashidi Ladoja before he was impeached illegally.  Another Judge, Iyabo Yerima still in Oyo State is trying to overturn the verdict of the Supreme Court by entertaining what amount to an abuse of court process by the Adedibu/Akala group. Why can’t the Judiciary clean itself up?

 

 

Lawyers are not left out of this complicity and confusion; we have heard lawyers like Femi Falana and Gani Fawehinmi publicly supporting what amount to illegal impeachment in Ekiti and Plateau states respectively.  How can five law makers sit in a hotel in the dark to impeach a governor as it was done in Plateau State?  In Ekiti State in an attempt to end the corrupt government of Fayose at all cost, lawmakers resorted to shopping for their own judge who will dance to an orchestrated tune.  Is that what it means to be a human right lawyer? Supporting illegality when it suits your ideology and political inclination or is it a case of whatever it takes to get the job done?

 

I imagined Chief Adedibu blood pressure must be elevated presently.  He will be busy thinking about his next move.  His first option is well known to everybody, which is to unleash terror and thuggery on Ibadan citizens and its metoprolis in an attempt to scare of Rashidi Ladoja and his associates.  That however will not be possible because the President this time has decided to uphold his constitutional duty as the chief law enforcer of the country.  The police have decided to provide adequate security for the returning Governor, also Lamidi Adedibu enforcer Alhaji Tokyo has recently been warned and released from State Security Service cell.  All these will hamper Adedibu’s plan.  He will have to come up with a plan B.

 

Plan B is already playing out in different courthouses in Lagos and Ibadan.  “Shop” for a judge who is bold enough like Acting Chief Judge Afolabi and Judge Iyabo Yerima of Oyo State and who will be willing to nullify the judgement of the Supreme Court or grant a stay of execution of the apex court judgement.  This is going to be difficult however because lawyers on Rashidi Ladoja’s side have devised a good method of going to court en-masse and shouting down in unison Adedibu/Akala lawyers, not allowing them to successfully raise illegal motions as they attempted to do in Judge Iyabo Yerima’s court.  As a result of the ensuing confusion and commotion the Judge was unable to give a clear instruction. She is now under investigation by Nigeria Bar Association(NBA) and National Judicial Commission(NJC) for attempting to reverse a Supreme Court Judgement.

 

Plan C does not seem to work as well, the eighteen Adedibu loyalist have reaffirmed their impeachment of Ladoja again in their assembly but this has not made any difference to the fact that Governor Ladoja is now re-instated by the order of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.  The only option left to Adedibu and the lawmakers is to patiently wait for him to finish his term, which will end mid 2007.  It is unlikely that Ladoja will win the PDP primaries for Governorship in Oyo State even if the primary is re-run.  The first primary while Ladoja was in limbo produced Alao Akala as the next PDP’s flag bearer.

 

It is certain Governor Rashidi Ladoja will be a lame duck Governor for the rest of his term because of the divided house.  His supporters are in the minority.  He will not be able to pass any meaningful bill through a bitterly divided house.  Lamidi Adedibu will find this defeat difficult to swallow and probably will be unwilling to forgive Ladoja.  All the noise about being the “Kingmaker” of Ibadan politics is turning out to be a farce.

 

I truly sympathise with Diran Odeyemi and other people who may have to loose plum jobs and designation such as Director or Assistant to the Governor.  They may now have to be referred to as Assistant to the deputy Governor, assuming Alao Akala decides to work with the real Governor.