By ACJ Editorial Board and Mujeebah Shitta.
An Honorable from the Philosophy Department,Hon Semiu Atiku has charged the 28th Speaker of the Faculty Of Art,Rt Hon Liadi AbdAzeez Opeyemi to Lagos State University Students Union, LASUSU, High Court On The Basis of Impeachment in November 2021.
*Reason for the Court Case*
Honourable Semiu Atiku was impeached from his position by the speaker Rt Hon Liadi without following the right Procedures.
In an interview with the honourable, he divulged that he was impeached by the Speaker because of what he posted on hisWhatsApp status.
According to him, in his whatapp post, he described the 28th speaker as a tyrannical leader surrounded with unreasonable individuals giving him wrong advices .
He said, "However as an honorable I believe I have the right to say anything regardless because if the administration was commended or praised, The Speaker wouldn't have impeached me but now I criticized him and he impeached me without the constitutional backing"
*Semiu's reasons for being against the 28th Art's Speaker Administration*
Semiu strongly believes that the speaker is a custodian of the Constitution and he's meant to follow the Constitution and not commit any blunder or go against the constitution.
To back up his belief , he Narrated an incident that took place recently. He said " the prerequisite for appointing a Deputy speaker states that a LASUSU Honorable can't be a functionary of the court Functionaries like(chief Whip, Sergeant At Arm,Deputy Speaker,Clerk and so on.)
But the speaker appointed a Deputy Speaker who was once a LASUSU Honorable,The house raised this issue many times in the house but he's the kind of person that has justification for everything though he later changed it and when he did,he appointed the same person as an acting Deputy Speaker this incident justified my assertion that his administration has been tyrannical so far"
He also added that the Speaker want everyone to accept whatever he brings to the house without arguing with him that he wants us ( the Honourables) to always follow like sheeps without questioning or dispute .
In his word he said that he once told the speaker that; "My constituency is going to make this administration difficult for him" and the I don't take other people's opinions notion will stop d because when he brings matters to the house initially it is meant to be formal it is should be discussed in the house you can't just bring a decision to the house the decision matters should be raised and argued and discussed within the house though I later apologized for saying this"
Also an incident that transpired was when
An honorable was impeached because he missed three consecutive sittings which was against the constitution.
According to the constitution awarning was meant to be issued then by the disciplinary committee but nothing of such was done.
According to Semiu, a member from his constituency questioned the rationale and the acting deputy Speaker sent a message on their WhatsApp platform saying the just impeached honorable did not only missed three sittings but also spoilt the faculty door.
"This particular incident got me angry and I just had to summarize what he said as Gibberish and this was certainly against the rules of the WhatsApp platform so I was removed this prompted me to post on my WhatsApp Status about the speaker administration.
I was asked to write an apology letter within 24 hours which was on weekends though I later wrote an apology letter to his DM, but his reply was "Thanks for your service so far " Said Semiu,
*The Speaker's Reason for Impeaching the Honourable.*
In an interview with Rt Hon Liadi Abdulazeez Opeyemi the 28th speaker of the Faculty of Arts.
He emphasized that Honourable Semiu was removed for misconduct in the hallowed chamber and not his whatsapp post alone.
Abdulazeez said" A second business sitting was held at philosophy annex on the 27th of August, 2021 and Semiu walked out of the hallowed chamber because he was raising his hands and he wasn't called due to the fact that we have many others raising their hands and it's the discretion of the speaker to call anyone he wishes to. Also walking out of the chamber is against the the standing order SO 12 iv.
The Speaker further stated that Semiu has constantly violated the rules of the hallowed chamber.
In addition to his previous action, at the third business sitting an argument surfaced at the floor of the hallowed chamber which he raised his voice high and I ordered the whip to walk him out of the chamber and upon going out he banged the door and said that the administration will not be successful and bad mouthed the parliament.
Also at the fifth business sitting his constituency came to substitute Adamson with Julius in the ethics and disciplinary committee in which the former throw a question to me that why would he be substituted without his consent that does the parliament give room for that but before I could answer Honourable Semiu called him (Adamson) stupid and he also retaliated which made Honourable Semiu stood up and had a physical fight with Adamson
The last one he did was on our WhatsApp group. Our WhatsApp group is an extension of our office ande we have rules guiding it, some of which are; no sending of stickers, no using of abusive words and the likes and anyone who does that would be removed for a week.
On the 6th of November, one of the honorable members was raising an issue on those that have missed sittings three times convectively and that their seat should be declared vacant
Semiu then tagged the message using abusive words in which the deputy speaker did remove him. And after his removal he went ahead to write the following
"Your administration is tyrannical, errors everywhere. Surrounded by reasonable individuals giving wrong advice. You are not the one in charge and it's obvious. I hope you see this Rt Hon Liadi Abdulazeez. Good morning WhatsApp discretional Speaker."
It was on this note that he was suspended and given 24 hours to apologize and if he failed to do so, he would be unseated. After 24 hours he failed to write the letter and other honorable members started raising eyebrows on the WhatsApp group asking if he is above the law?
In the words of Abdulazeez, he said "I didn't impeach him yet until I asked the speaker and the leader of his department (constituency) as far as the hallowed chamber is concerned if he has relayed my messages to him to send an apology and he told me he has done that.
After 31 hours I ordered the house committee on information to send a Broadcast message that he has been impeached for misconduct in which the secretary did because the chairman was removed from the group for sending stickers. After the message was sent he then came to my DM to apologize and I told him the deed has been done".
When asked about the court proceedings, Abdulazeez said that; "I am the defendant here. It's their next step that would tell the step I would take. As the Orator, I should always speak and act last"
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