By Bolaji Adebiyi, Yemi Akinsuyi in Lagos and Ademola Adeyemo in Ibadan, 12.30.2005

The scare, which was fueled by fear of adverse reactions of the governor’s supporters’ to Wednesday ruling of the state High Court, sitting in Ibadan that declined jurisdiction in the suit filed by the Speaker of the House, Mr. Adeolu Adeleke, and his deputy, Mr. Dauda Atilola, seeking to stop the impeachment of Ladoja, became intensified as the state’s Acting Chief Judge, Justice Afolabi Adeniran, is expected to empanel today the seven-man committee that will investigate the allegations of misconduct against the governor.

Also scared away from work were civil servants most of who said they were yet to recover from the shock of last week’s mayhem, which sacked both the parliament building and the governor’s office. Consequently, the State Secretariat seat of government was deserted yesterday even as the governor’s close aides and staff stayed away from their offices.

But the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Ayodele Adigun, in an interview with THISDAY sued for peace, saying the state government remained committed to its mandate of securing the lives and property of its citizens.
The government’s commitment to the security of the state, a police source told THISDAY in Lagos, received the support of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, who yesterday ordered the deployment, from Lagos State Police Command, of two more mobile police units in Oyo State to help calm restive supporters of the warring factions in the state.

However, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Mr. Babatunde Eesuola, who doubles as the spokesman of the G18 told THISDAY in a telephone interview yesterday that his group had to shelve its planned plenary session because of a security report that bombs had been allegedly planted in the assembly complex, making it unsafe to sit.

“We had planned to sit today to carry out the business of the House, not necessarily over the impeachment of the governor, but we had to postpone this as a result of unfavourable security reports, which said the place was unsafe because bombs had been planted in House,” he said.

He stated that the police were expected to give his group clearance to sit and that when that was not forthcoming, the session was postponed until such a time the House chambers would be conducive to legislative work.

Eesuola who insisted that the only condition for peace in the state was the removal of the governor said his group expected the acting chief judge to empanel the impeachment investigative committee today, saying the ongoing discussions between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fact-finding committee and stakeholders in the political crisis, including the governor’s estranged godfather, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, would not abort the impeachment process.

He said: “I think people are missing the point. There are two issues. One is the quarrel between the governor and his godfather; that one is secondary. The other is the primary issue of a constitutional dispute between the governor and the House. We have leveled allegations of gross misconduct against the governor, and instead of responding to the allegations he chose to ignore us.
“So the intervention of the party and other stakeholders in the state, in my view, only relates to the problem between the governor and his godfather. If they want to settle that we have no business with that. The one that concerns us is the constitutional breaches that we have raised and we intend to deal with that matter decisively.

The G18 spokesman disagreed that the disagreement between Ladoja and Adedibu instigated the impeachment proceedings, saying it was politically expedient for the House and the governor’s estranged godfather to merge forces to redress the wrong he had done to both of them.

“What you are suggesting is that we are dullards, that we do not have a mind of our own. This is far from the truth. We have an axe to grind with the governor; Baba (Adedibu) has his problems with him. I know that it is not all of us that are Molete boys; I do not come from there, I come from Oyo and that it is where my loyalty lies,” Eesuola said.

But as Ladoja’s adversaries intensifies their efforts to oust him from office, his SSG, Adigun, has called for peace, asking that everyone should subject himself to the rule of law. “We want peace in the state. Our mandate is to secure the lives and property of our people and provide a peaceful environment for them to do their businesses. We are determined to do that,” he said.

Contending that the crisis was not caused by disagreements over public policy, he said the state government was not prepared to pander to the whims and caprices of any person or group who might want to turn the state to its private estate.

“It is unacceptable for any group of people to sit down and insist on imposing their will on the people,” he said, adding that anyone who had any grievance should redress in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile the PDP fact-finding committee dispatched by the party’s national secretariat continued its assignment in Ibadan yesterday meetings with the main actors in the political dispute.

Its Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema, told newsmen that the committee was making progress and was hopeful that an amicable solution would be found to the crisis. He said his committee had met with Adedibu and would meet with the governor yesternight.