2nd July, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Former deputy governor of Lagos state, western Nigeria, Otunba Femi Pedro, on Thursday appealed to the state House of Assembly to review his impeachment by the fifth session of the House in 2007.
Following his impeachment, Pedro has not enjoyed any of the benefits accruing to the office, which he occupied while Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was the state governor.
Pedro was impeached after he dumped defunct Action Congress, AC, following irreconcilable differences between him and members of the party.
Pedro, who is now a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, sent a letter to the House asking that the members be compassionate enough to reconsider his impeachment.
The letter was read on the floor of the House by the Clerk, Ganiyu Abiru, who told the lawmakers that the former Deputy Governor attached his letter of resignation from office to the letter he sent to the House.
Reacting, a member of the House representing Shomolu Constituency I, Rotimi Olowo, joined in pleading for the review of the impeachment and basing his argument on the tone of the letter which showed that the former governor was remorseful of his action while in office.
Olowo, who called Pedro his close friend, described the former Deputy Governor as upright in character adding that the purpose of carrying out the impeachment then was not based on fraud or criminal tendencies.
“The purpose of the impeachment is not traceable to fraud or misconduct, probably (it was) because of high-handedness or lack of respect for constituted authority.
“Mr. Speaker, I suggest we set up an ad-hoc committee to either sustain or revisit the resolution of the 5th Assembly,” Olowo pleaded.
On his part, Abiodun Tobun, another lawmaker, expressed belief that the fifth Assembly that impeached Pedro had actually done a good job.
“Many of us were not here when the House took the decision. We have to look critically at the circumstances surrounding the impeachment process so that we do not err,” he advised his colleagues.
Also commenting on the issue, the representative of Lagos Mainland Constituency 2 at the House, Moshood Oshun, reiterated the need to follow due process before taking decision on the plea by the ex-governor.
He said: “we can’t base any submission on an assumption. Though, the tone of the letter is an appeal, an ad-hoc committee would have to be set up to look into the issue critically.”
Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa later constituted an eight-man ad-hoc committee headed by the Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade, to look into the plea.
Members of the committee include Desmond Elliot of Surulere Constituency I, Folajimi Mohammed of Ikeja Constituency I, Muyiwa Jimoh of Apapa Constituency 2, Kazeem Alimi of Eti-Osa Constituency I, Shokunle Hakeem of Oshodi-Isolo Constituency I, Gbolahan Yishawu of Eti-Osa Constituency 2 and Moshood Oshun of Lagos Mainland Constituency 2.