The impeached Ondo State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, has expressed optimism that he will return to his former position.
Olanusi said this during an interview with our correspondent on Thursday shortly after returning from an overseas medical trip.
The former deputy governor fell out with Governor Olusegun Mimiko after he (Olanusi) defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress two days to the presidential elections.
He was subsequently impeached two weeks after the general elections by the House of Assembly which is predominantly PDP.
However, Olanusi told our correspondent that his impeachment was illegal.
He said, “The impeachment was illegal, null and void. It is an affront to the spirit and letters of the 1999 Constitution.
“Also, the oath of office administered on the new Deputy Governor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of the state, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), was illegal, because the Attorney General has no such constitutional powers to administer oath on a governor or a deputy governor. Only the Chief Judge can do that.”
Olanusi said the people of Ondo State were not happy about the illegality.
He said the Mimiko administration had become unpopular for mismanaging the affairs of the state.
While reacting to a question on the alleged plan by Mimiko to defect to the APC, Olanusi, who has since been appointed a member of the APC Board of Trustees, said he was not aware of the planned defection.
He said, “I am not aware of any attempt by Mimiko to defect to the APC. However, if he wants to come to the APC, he must queue behind me. He also has to change his ways.”
The APC won the March 28 presidential election and did well in the National Assembly elections in Ondo State but performed badly in the April 11 House of Assembly election in the state.
When asked to explain the reason for the disparity in the two elections, Olanusi said, “The PDP rigged the April 11 election. They colluded with respected traditional rulers in several towns in the state.”
