Posted by By RAZAQ BAMIDELE and ADESINA AIYEKOTI and JAMES OJO, Abuja on
The Supreme Court judgment that quashed the purported impeachment of Oyo State governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja has generated reactions from notable Nigerians and human rights group.
The Supreme Court judgment that quashed the purported impeachment of Oyo State governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja has generated reactions from notable Nigerians and human rights group.
While some Nigerians including Lagos State Governor, Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu hailed the judgment, Oyo State PDP strongman Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu described it as a huge joke.
He said: "I have predicted what would happen and I said that if the Supreme Court still confirmed him, yet it would not help him (Ladoja).
"What the lawyers of the 18 lawmakers were saying was that the case should be returned to the lower court. The court must give an order to reinstate him."
Tinubu described the judgement as "a courageous decision and a major triumph for democracy, justice and the rule of law in Nigeria."
In a release signed on his behalf by the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr Henry Oladele Alake, the elated governor stressed that the development "offers a new ray of hope that the institution of democracy can indeed effectively play their roles in checking the slides to anarchy and impunity in our society."
Also reacting was the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural, political organisation, Afenifere, which described the Apex Court's judgment as a "victory for the rule of law and democracy in Nigeria."
Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odunmakin, Afenifere warned President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop acting like a garrison commander rather than a civilian president, adding that the Nigerian lawmakers should also desist from engaging in "legislative brigandage."
In her own reaction, the President of the Campaign for Democracy, (CD) Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin said, "this triumph of the rule of law would serve as warning to all the lawmakers who have penchant for legislative rascality."
Others, who hailed the landmark legal victory included the National Publicity of the Action Congress, (AC) Alhaji Lai Mohammed, a member of the House of Representatives, Mr Babatunde Oduyoye as well as a constitutional lawyer, Mr Mike Okoye, who said the Supreme Court verdict "has vindicated our position that illegality will never pay."
The Secretary General of the Southern Leaders Forum (SLF) Dejo Raimi said: "The highest court in the land has spoken, the judgment would serve as a landmark for those states where impeachment of the governor has been made a child's play."
Presidential aspirant, Professor Pat Utomi also said the judgment was "landmark and all those responsible should be responsible and recognise the landmark nature."