The state PDP chairman also disclosed that some aggrieved lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party are also involved in the move.
A source told PUNCH correspondent 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.”
This is the latest in the wave of impeachment sagas that are happening across the country with several victims already - one governor, one deputy governor and some speakers.
In Oyo state, the impeachment threat may not be so strong and could be false as revealed by Murphy Adigun-Ahmed, a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly who told the News Agency
“We should be talking about moving the state forward; some people are just focusing on dragging us backward. APC has 18 out of 32 members, so how possible is it for them to impeach our governor, we know where this is coming from,” he said.
While Adigun may be right on the figures and logic, reliving Oyo state's political history would also reveal that logic and figures may not be strong enough to keep Ajimobi's mandate safe as we've had a case where an incumbent governor was impeached by Elewe Omo, the head of transport workers in Oyo state.
This means that having at least 2 political parties working against Ajimobi may be reason enough for his impeachment. Furthermore, there is dissatisfaction within the APC in Oyo state as the state is witnessing numerous cases of decampment in recent times.
If the governor desires to secure his mandate and see his term through before asking for a second term in office, there is the need to put his house in order, stop sharing rice and start providing dividends of democracy at the grassroots. He needs to mend fences within the political party and gain the support of all lawmakers irrespective of their political parties.
Because with the current state and spate of politics in Nigeria, Ajimobi is the easiest governor to impeach because he is not really a politician, he is just a lucky businessman.
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