Justice Muktar Abimbola of the Oyo State High
Court, on Thursday, ordered the return of Kazeem Ayilara, one of the
Anti-Akala lawmakers in the Oyo State House of Assembly, as the deputy
speaker of the legislative arm.
Mr Ayilara, a loyalist of Teslim Folarin, Senate
majority leader, had been battling for the restoration of his status
since he was unceremoniously removed on February 17, 2008.
The judge, in another suit filed by the group of
eight lawmakers opposed to Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, however,
refused their prayer to have the suspension placed on them by their
colleagues lifted.
The eight lawmakers were suspended on June 8, 2010
by the pro-Akala members for daring to push for the governor’s
impeachment over financial misdemeanour.
While giving his ruling on the application, the
judge said the applicants have nothing to fear as he has dismissed the
application based on the fact that an order of a court of equal
jurisdiction had earlier ruled that the suspension was unconstitutional.
He also urged the house to reconcile its members
before the court reconvenes March 1, charging counsel to both sides to
work out the truce and let them all put the past behind them.
The lawmakers had on June 8 last year proposed the impeachment of the speaker, Olawale Atilola,
who was said to have frustrated all effort to
investigate allegation of fraud against the governor in the N8.2
Billion contract scam for the construction of 165km roads across the 33
councils in the State.
The attempt led to attack on them and three of
them landed in the University College Hospital (UCH) wards where they
were hospitalised for days.
Though the judge said 22 of the 32 member strength
of the house meet the two-third majority required by law to remove the
speaker and/or his deputy, he frowned at the manner of the removal, and
declared it illegal, null, void and of no effect.
He then ordered his immediate reinstatement and
return of all the benefits accruable to the office of the house
Deputy-Speaker, and also ordered the speaker to pay all the arrears of
entitlement due to him since the day of his removal.
The judge also directed that the house should stop recognising Jelili Adeleke as the deputy-Speaker, forthwith.
