In Oyo State, the fear of the possible
impeachment of Governor Abiola Ajimobi
heightened last week with a series of secret
political moves by members of the state House
of Assembly.
The development in Oyo is coming just as one of
our correspondents gathered that there was
apprehension in Borno State over the rumoured
defection of the former Governor of the state,
Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, to the Peoples
Democratic Party. There are fears the defection
might ignite a political crisis in the state.
In Oyo, a source told one of our correspondents
in confidence that, at least, 24 House members
had been meeting secretly and that more
members were being wooed to join the group. He
said 10 legislators from the APC had joined the
14 other legislators from the PDP and AP and
that they were holding secret meetings on the
modalities to impeach either the governor or the
speaker, Monsurat Sumonu.
The House has 32 members with the All
Progressives Congress having 18 members;
Peoples Democratic Party nine; while the Accord
Party, which had seven, now has five members.
The source said, “The House has been calm
because the speaker is dancing to the governor’s
tune. Once she is removed, the new Speaker can
go ahead to implement the impeachment plan.
But the problem is that the group has yet to
agree on who will be the next Speaker. For the
PDP to have that power, it must improve on its
present figure in the house. I am aware that it is
being worked on with a move to woo AP
legislators and possibly some APC legislators in
the house,” he said.
Signs early in the week that impeachment plans
were being hatched were denied by the majority
leader of the House, Oyeniyi Akande. Speaking on
behalf of the 18 APC members during an
emergency press conference, Akande said a
report that APC members were part of a meeting
held with the PDP and Accord last weekend
could not stand the test of time.
He said, “I am using this period to debunk that
statement that APC members were part of that
meeting; they were not part of that meeting at
all, none of our members was in that meeting. I
am saying it categorically that we are solidly
behind our governor, Ajimobi, beyond 2015. We
have the positive opinion that he is going to win
the second term election.”
The minority leader in the house, Rafiu Adekunle,
however said that some members of the ruling
APC were part of the meeting, and that for safety
reasons, he would not give their names.
“For political reasons, no member of APC can
boldly come out and affirm my claim publicly.
Let me tell you emphatically, immediately after
plenary, four other members signified their
readiness to associate with the project.”
On Tuesday, a release signed by all APC
members where they denied holding any meeting
with a group was issued. This was a
confirmation of the source’s claim which also
backed the fact that there was an impeachment
fear in the state.
The Chairman of APC in the state, Mr. Akin Oke,
told our correspondent that he did not envisage
an impeachment move in the state, confirming
that the party’s members in the house were
made to pledge their support to the governor.
He said, “This era of impeachment is not good
for our democracy. If a governor’s achievement
is not satisfactory after three years in
government, why not wait till the next election to
remove him through the electorate? Instead of
sponsoring legislators to remove governors, the
electorate should be allowed to decide that.
“In Oyo State or anywhere in the South-West, it
is not possible to remove our governors. The 18
legislators in Oyo have come out to deny
meeting legislators from the PDP and AP. It
shows that such a move will not be welcome in
Oyo. Ajimobi and the legislators have always
enjoyed a good relationship so why should there
be fear over his impeachment?” asked the
chairman.
But the PDP chairman in the state, Yinka Taiwo,
told our correspondent on Friday that there were
six APC lawmakers holding talks with the PDP on
how to move to the party.
“The minority leader who is a PDP member in the
house is handling the matter. I am aware that
six APC lawmakers in the house are talking with
him. They said they were not happy with the
APC and are eager to join the PDP. We are
considering their proposal,” he said.
In Borno State, some political observers argued
that the defection of Modu-Sheriff, the estranged
godfather of the present governor, Kashim
Shettima, would make it easy for the ruling PDP
to effect the removal of the governor.
Already, the former governor has three members
of the House of Representatives, AbdulRahman
Terab, Peter Biye and Lawan Isa, who are set to
move with him to the new party.
Though many of the members of the House of
Assembly have not come out to associate openly
with the former governor, they are suspected to
be holding secret talks with him and may move
with him to the PDP.
The permission given by the presidency to the
former governor to land at the Maiduguri
International Airport, which has been closed to
all manner of flights for over two weeks, some
observers have noted, is a pointer to the extent
that the PDP will empower the ex-governor to
upturn the political balance in the state.
The thinking is that with what happened in
Adamawa State where the governor was
removed and in Nasarawa, where the governor
has been served with notice of impeachment,
many believe Borno may be in the radar of the
President and the PDP for a similar treatment.
But a member of the state House of Assembly,
who spoke under anonymity, said Borno
lawmakers would not mete out the same
treatment to Shettima, saying, “He has been nice
to us and we see ourselves as part and parcel of
this administration. We have never had any
major crisis under this dispensation and why
now?”
The lawmaker said the current chairman of the
APC in the state, Hon. Bukar Ali Dalori, was a
member of the Assembly. “So, why should we
betray such trust and go with the opposition
who can never be trusted.”
Another respected politician in the state, who did
not want his name in print, said, “2015 is still a
long way away and if Sheriff brings enough
money from Abuja, he could destabilise the
system and even move for the governor’s
impeachment.”
A top aide to Shettima, who would not have his
name in print, said, “The issue of impeachment
doesn’t arise in Borno State. The issue will only
be a distraction and the governor is focused on
delivering on his promises to the people of Borno
State.”
He added, “Of course, you know that unlike what
obtained in Adamawa, a PDP lawmaker in Borno
State defected to APC. The State chairman was
from the State Assembly, all of these confirm the
level of cohesion between the two arms, and it
will be difficult to change this.”[color=#990000][/color]

Source?

[size=18pt]this is the BEAUTY OF DEMOCRACY[/size]

Pdp, wait let's go to the poll, if u think u are popular and stop using members of assembly.

There is fire on the mountain and no one seems to care. Democracy in Nigeria will come to a point where it will just be between the executive and legislature. All what the governors will be doing will be to satisfy the yearnings of the legislature, since the electorate will not have a role to play through the ballot box. I think this people are begining to abuse this impeachment thing. Eletion is by the corner and suddenly all the legislatures realised that the governors are not doing well. Shame to this kind of politics. Simply annoying.