Bayo Lawal, Oyo housing corporation chair, sworn in as deputy governor

Bayo Lawal, chairman of the Oyo housing corporation, has been sworn in as deputy governor of the state.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at the executive chamber of the governor’s office and was conducted by Munta Abimbola, the chief justice of the state.

The event held a few hours after the state house of assembly impeached Rauf Olaniyan as deputy governor of Oyo.

In his remarks, Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, told Lawal to put the interest of the people at heart.

Olaniyan and Makinde had been at loggerheads, with the former deputy governor eventually defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in June.

The former deputy governor’s loyalists had accused the governor of relegating Olaniyan by excluding him from governance and party affairs in Oyo.

Following the commencement of the impeachment process against him at the time, the former deputy governor had challenged the state house of assembly by instituting a suit in court, but the case was dismissed.

After the judgment, the state chief justice had constituted a seven-member panel to investigate allegations against the former deputy governor.

On Monday, the state assembly adopted the report of the panel and impeached Olaniyan, and a few hours after the impeachment, the lawmakers reconvened to consider the nomination of Lawal as the new deputy governor of the state.

Reacting to his impeachment through Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), his lawyer, Olaniyan said he was not given enough time by the panel to defend himself.

“The investigation by the committee set up by the chief judge is a charade that cannot stand the test of time. In the first instance, the chief judge, with respect, breached his oath of office by ignoring the service of notice of appeal and application for injunction pending appeal when he proceeded to constitute the investigation committee,” he said in a statement.

“They served the deputy governor on Friday around 10.45 am and asked him to appear at 11am. We wrote to inform them that he needed time to prepare for his defence. In their desperation to do the job for which they were paid, they rejected the letter, sat on Saturday and completed their task the same day.”

Meanwhile, on June 2, the governor, who is seeking re-election, had announced Lawal as his running mate for the 2023 general election.