Politics

Lawyers, Ex-lawmakers Disagree Over Ondo Deputy Gov’s Impeachment Plot

Published

2 years ago

September 28, 2023

Editor

…Aiyedatiwa abusing court process —Lawyers

Some lawyers, including Messrs Jiti Ogunye and Femi Emodamori, and former lawmakers from Ondo State, yesterday, disagreed over the move to impeach the embattled Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who has been accused of alleged gross misconduct.

While Ogunye and Emodamori accused the deputy governor of attempting to stop his impeachment through an interim order, the former lawmakers warned the Assembly members against heating the polity by impeaching Aiyedatiwa.

Ogunye, who was featured on a television programme, said that Aiyedatiwa was wrong to have approached the court, when the process had not been completed.

He said: “The issue of principle here is that there is a route, under Section 188 of the Constitution, which says that ‘seven days you should receive a notice served by the Speaker on the holder of the office, be it governor or deputy governor’.

“Within 14 days, a vote is taken and, if two-third passes the matter, it goes to the Chief Judge of the state within seven days and then a panel is set up within three months and the report comes in.

“After the report comes in, if the report says no misconduct has been committed, the matter ends there. If it says misconduct is proven then the person is impeached.

“That’s the process. And so, if at the tail-end the process is not followed, the holder of the office has recourse to have him restored to power.

“The second one is the federalist principle which is very dear to me. You are a deputy governor of a state, you have a state high court, you are suing everybody in that state including the Chief Judge of that state, and you are taking them to a Federal Government court. That offends my federalist principle.”

Also throwing his weight behind Ogunye, the counsel to the House of Assembly, Femi Emodamori, argued that if the lawmakers clearly and meticulously follow Section 188 (1-9), no court, as stipulated in Section 10, has the power to intervene.

Emodamori said: ”It is only when there are pure breaches of the law that the court may intervene. Now, the deputy governor hasn’t even been served, the notice was initiated by eleven members of the House, more than one-third required, and he didn’t wait to be served.

“He’s alleging violation of his right to a fair hearing that he’s not been served. That it’s within social media even when Section 188 says he should be served within seven days and it’s not yet seven days.

“Rushing to court even before the panel is constituted is an abuse of judicial process. He doesn’t have a fundamental human right to protect at that stage. The body to hear him is the panel to be constituted by the Chief Judge. Until the body begins work, how do you complain about the violation to a fair hearing?”

Assembly endorsing bad precedence—Ex-lawmakers

On their part, the former lawmakers in the state, who addressed newsmen in Akure, urged the Ondo Assembly to preserve the sanctity and integrity of the assembly.

Speaking on behalf of the lawmakers, Abiodun Jerome said: “The present House of Assembly is less than four months old, and it’s very unfortunate that impeachment proceeding is their priority amongst the myriad of critical issues confronting our state presently.

“We want to unequivocally state here that the House must be careful not to dare the wrath of the people by heating the polity.

“The Assembly must be very careful from turning themselves into a puppet in the hands of some desperate politicians.

“It is on this note that we challenge the present Assembly not to endorse a bad precedence by going ahead with this planned impeachment of the Deputy Governor.

“As critical stakeholders in Ondo State, we consider it incumbent that we do not fold our arms and watch our political labour and those of our pathfinders washed away by the interest of a clique within our political system.”

VANGUARD

Politics

Umahi Fires Back At Makinde Over Lagos-Calabar Highway Cost

Published

11 hours ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has fired back at Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over his recent comments questioning the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the governor misunderstood the technical details of road construction and cost evaluation.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and the Nasarawa–Toto Road projects, alongside the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Saturday, Umahi said the cost of the highway had been carefully computed in line with global engineering standards and should not be reduced to “political soundbites.”

Governor Makinde had queried the minister’s estimated figures on the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is one of the signature infrastructure projects of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Makinde, who spoke at an event in a viral video on Friday, said there was no need for the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to be “dancing around the cost” of the project.

He said, “These are elementary questions. And it makes no sense (sic). A process is ongoing, payment has been made, and you are saying, ‘How has this money been utilised?. The money is meant for the project, and it will be paid according to the work done.

Responding to the inspection tour, the former Ebonyi governor described Makinde as “a brother and friend” but said it was improper for him to publicly accuse him of “dancing around” figures.

“I heard that my brother and friend, Governor Makinde of Oyo state, said something about the cost per kilometre. I don’t want to join issues with him. I think he is an engineer, I think he is an electrician, they call it ‘elect-elect’. But this road construction matter, ‘elect-elect no reach there’,” Umahi said.

He continued, “I am his senior both in governance and in engineering practice. So, anything he doesn’t understand, he should call me and ask. I have great respect for him as my friend and brother, but he should withdraw the statement that I’m dancing around. I never danced around. If he insists, he should come for a debate, which is very important.”

Defending the project further, Umahi explained that there was no ambiguity in determining the cost per kilometre, stressing that it must be understood in both estimated and average terms.

“There is no ambiguity in cost per kilometre,” he said. “I am teaching them that cost per kilometre can be divided into estimated cost, which has elements of variance, and average cost, which is definitive. The average cost of a definitive project and the estimated cost are probable elements.”

He explained that the estimated cost includes allowances for contingencies and variation of price, which may not eventually be utilised.

“When the project is completed, and you remove what you didn’t use, such as contingencies and VOP, then you have your actual cost,” he added.

Umahi expressed amusement that some critics had resorted to asking Artificial Intelligence to explain the difference between estimated and average cost, only for the AI’s response to align with his explanation.

“When somebody who is dangling without knowledge goes to ask AI what the difference is between cost per kilometre and average cost, I’m happy that AI told him exactly what I said,” the minister quipped.

He also cited the National Universities Commission’s clarification on who qualifies as a professor, noting that practical experience in the field also counts as expertise.

“I’m happy that the NUC programme on who is a professor also made me right. You can become a professor by the reason of your practice. And I think God has made me one when it comes to practical, field engineering programmes, that’s what it is; you can’t take it back,” Umahi said.

Politics

Enugu Gov Mbah Set to Dump PDP

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, next week.

National Chairman and Deputy National Chairman, South-East, of the APC, Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda and Emma Eneukwu, respectively, broke the news in Abuja on Friday.

The APC national leadership revealed Mbah’s imminent defection to the ruling party while swearing in the newly inaugurated members of the Enugu State caretaker committee, led by former state chairman, Ben Nwoye, at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.

The governor is expected to announce his defection at an event schedule to hold in the state next week.

Chairman of the newly inaugurated caretaker committee, Nwoye, who confirmed the development, said the governor will join the ruling party alongside all his appointees.

There are speculations that Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, is also set to join APC.

Politics

Makinde Calls Out Umahi Over Coastal Highway Cost Analysis

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has weighed in on the cost of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project that was approved by President Bola Tinubu.

Makinde, who spoke at an event in a viral video on Friday, said there was no need for the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to be “dancing around the cost” of the project.

The governor was reacting to a heated exchange that unfolded live on television between Umahi and Arise TV presenter Rufai Oseni on Tuesday.

Oseni had requested the minister to analyse the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre.

The request didn’t sit well with Umahi, who declared himself “professor” of practice in engineering while elaborating that the costs of the road in kilometres are not the same and would be too complicated for the journalist to understand.

He said, “These are elementary questions. And it makes no sense (sic). A process is ongoing, payment has been made, and you are saying, ‘how has this money been utilised?. The money is meant for the project, and it will be paid according to the work done.

“When a certificate is generated, and it is approved through a process in the Ministry of Works, it will then be given to the funders, who will, in turn, check if the works were done. How can you be asking for cost of kilometre? The prices are different. The next kilometre is different from the next kilometre.

“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know. I’m a professor in this field. You don’t understand anything. I understand engineering very well. You have no knowledge of what you ask. You have no knowledge of what you’re asking.”

Oseni, who also refused to back down, responded, “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.”

However, justifying the journalist’s question to the minister, Makinde said, “They asked a minister how much is the coastal road is, and then you (Umahi) are dancing around and going to say that no, the next kilometre is different from the next kilometres. Then what is the average cost?

“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road then, it was about N9.99 billion, almost N10 billion. About 34 or 35 kilometres, average cost is about N238 million per kilometre.

“But when we did Iseyin to Ogbomoso, that was 76 kilometres, it was about N43 billion, average cost is about N500 million per kilometre. And we had two bridges, one over the Ogun river and then one at Ogbomoso end.”

The PUNCH reports that last year, the Federal Government announced the commencement of construction work on the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which spans nine states and includes two spurs leading to the northern states.

Umahi made the announcement during the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometers of dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Limited, and which is to be constructed in concrete pavement.

This was contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser (Media), Uchenna Orji.

According to him, the Minister who was in company with the Federal Ministry of Works’ Controller in charge of Lagos State, Mrs O. I. Kesha, emphasised the need for all contractors handling Federal Government’s road projects to deliver within a record time, noting that the government would not allow variation arising from delays or slow pace of work once mobilisation had been done.