The good people of the Oyo state received with shock and with mixed feelings the news of the impeachment of the deputy governor of the state, His excellency, Rauf Olaniyan.

Although some people who are engrossed with the political atmosphere of the Oyo state saw it coming after the number two citizen of the state dumped the political party he was elected on in 2019 with his principle to occupy the office of the deputy governor which is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and decamped to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Allegations were leveled against him for gross misconduct; abuse of office, financial recklessness, embezzlement of public funds, abandonment of his office, insubordination, and other offenses, and a panel was instituted to verify and ascertain the veracity of these allegations.

Since the impeachment news, the question has been can a deputy governor be legally or constitutionally impeached in Nigeria since he is occupying the office on a joint ticket. A deputy governor is elected on a joint ticket with the governor. Also, can  only the deputy be impeached while the governor retains his seat and get a replacement for the deputy, can a deputy stay in office  if a governor is impeached for an offense committed by the governor.

“Laymanly” speaking, if a deputy governor is to be impeached he is to be impeached together with the governor since they share a joint ticket because according to the Nigerian constitution, the deputy governor is only elected on a joint ticket with that of the governor and there is no office of the deputy governor without the office of the governor.

These are some of the “roadside” arguments that have been making round the corner, although they are reasonable, but as reasonable as these arguments or assertions may sound that a deputy cannot be legally impeached independently, that is not what the law says; fortunately the constitution has provided answers to these questions which will lay to rest and stifle all other “roadside” arguments.

The impeachment of a deputy governor in Nigeria is legal and constitutional as it was provided for in S. 188 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). According to the provisions of that segment of the constitution, a governor can be impeached so also a deputy can be impeached independent of the governor.

When a deputy governor is accused of gross misconduct, it is enough to cause an impeachment process to be instituted against him by the lawmakers independent of the governor, his principal.

Once a deputy governor is impeached, he is to vacate the office of the deputy governor with immediate effect and the governor is to quickly get a replacement for the impeached deputy by nominating a proposed deputy subject to the approval of the state house of assembly.

It is pertinent to state that a deputy governor is estopped from approaching the court to challenge his impeachment if all the constitutional provided procedures for the impeachment were duly followed, although in recent times, the court has stated categorically that any aggrieved person has every right to approach the court including an impeached deputy governor.

Russia has maintained efforts to keep mainstream media in check as its war with Ukraine rages on. It started with an outright ban on news outlets and escalated to other platforms, particularly US tech companies.

The attack on the media got a legal backing in March after the Russian parliament overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill criminalizing fake news – which is – reports not approved by the Kremlin. The bill, which was swiftly signed into law, recommends up to 15 years imprisonment for anyone spreading information contrary to what the Kremlin approves.

Since early this year, it has been a roller-coaster ride for journalists in Russia. Since the war began, the Kremlin has added over 5,000 websites to its “denylist,” according to the research and security firm Top 10 VPN. Almost all foreign journalists in Russia have been kicked out and over 80 news outlets and 30 financial sites have been stripped of access since February 24th.

The Kremlin also blocked Twitter and Facebook for allowing disapproved content on their platforms but Google was allowed for a reason believed to be that Russia can’t afford to do without it now. However, the Kremlin is taking another step to ensure that the web search giant is under its control – fines.

Reuters reports that Alphabet’s Google was fined 21.1 billion roubles ($373 million) on Monday by a Moscow court for a repeated failure to remove content Russia deems illegal, such as “fake news” about the conflict in Ukraine, Russia’s communications regulator said.

Alphabet’s YouTube has been a particular target of the state’s ire but, unlike Twitter and Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, it has not been blocked.

The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said the Tagansky District Court had fined Google 21.1 billion roubles for repeatedly failing to restrict access promptly to banned materials, and singled out YouTube for particular criticism.

It said YouTube had not deleted “fakes about the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation”.

It also said YouTube was permitting content promoting extremist views and calls for children to participate in unauthorized protests.

Google, which can appeal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fine was calculated as a share of Google’s annual turnover in Russia. It had been handed a similar 7.2 billion rouble penalty late last year.

Google’s Russian unit’s bank account has been seized, prompting the subsidiary to file for bankruptcy and making it impossible to pay staff and vendors.

Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the parliamentary committee on information policy, said Google was showing a demonstrative disregard for Russian law.

“It is not hard to predict what this attitude will lead to: Google risks losing the Russian market altogether,” he wrote on Telegram.