•Speaker Ondo House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji
The crisis rocking Ondo State House of Assembly yesterday deepened as the lawmakers calling for the removal of Speaker Olamide Oladiji insisted that the impeachment process against him would continue despite alleged intervention by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
The aggrieved lawmakers also declared an indefinite boycott of plenary sessions, insisting they will not return until Oladiji resigns as the Speaker, reports The Nation.
The crisis stemmed from allegations that Oladiji altered the structure of the N9.2 billion Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) budget without legislative approval, and his action has sparked outrage among the majority of lawmakers.
Addressing reporters, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Olatunji Fabiyi, said 21 of the 26 members signed a resolution seeking the Speaker’s removal amid allegations of single-handedly reordering the OSOPADEC 2025 Budget without the approval of the House.
Fabiyi, representing Odigbo Constituency I, said the decision to change the leadership of the House remained, warning that the Speaker would be impeached if he refused to step down.
“We have resolved not to hold a plenary until there is a change of Speaker. For now, there is no development except that Mr Speaker (Oladiji) should just give way and allow another person to preside over Ondo State House of Assembly,” he said.
He said if the embattled Speaker refused to resign, the lawmakers were ready to impeach him.
“We will impeach him if he fails to do the needful,” Fabiyi added.
The lawmaker also alleged that Governor Aiyedatiwa had been reaching out to some of his colleagues to withdraw their support for the impeachment move against the Speaker.
He said the matter was within the constitutional powers of the legislature, questioning the governor’s alleged interference in the scandal that is rocking the Assembly.
“I have the opinion that the governor is calling some members that they should backpedal on the issue of impeachment, but it is exclusively a private affair of the House. It’s not an executive affair,” Fabiyi said.
He said the lawmakers had ‘no disagreement’ with the governor, but were only demanding a change of the leadership of the Assembly.
The move by the lawmakers to remove Oladiji also followed an earlier allegations surrounding the mismanagement of N44 million reportedly released to the Assembly by OSOPADEC.
The lawmakers had accused the Speaker and his Deputy, Ololade Gbegudu, of failing to carry other members along in the handling of the funds.
Oladiji, who represents Ondo East Constituency, has dismissed the allegation as false and fabricated.
The controversy has heightened tension within the Assembly, with reports suggesting that the positions of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Clerk of the House may be affected.
