Impeachment plot against Speaker divides Ondo Assembly

By Alaba Olusola Oke

In a counter move, 14 out of the 26 members of the Ondo State House of Assembly on Friday passed a vote of confidence in the Assembly Speaker, Chief Olamide Oladiji against their 12 colleagues seeking his impeachment.

The vote of confidence by the 14 lawmakers was in response to the ‘vote of no confidence’ passed on the Speaker by 12 aggrieved members of the assembly who are calling for his impeachment on Thursday.

The 12 lawmakers had accused Oladiji of misappropriation of the sum of N50 million.

However, in a letter made available to journalists in Akure by the Deputy Speaker of Ondo Assembly, Hon. Ololade Gbegudu, after a parliamentary meeting on Friday, the 14 lawmakers asked people of the state to discountenance the call for removal of the speaker for the purported gross misconduct.

The 14 lawmakers in the letter said the speaker did not, at anytime, divert N50 million as alleged by the aggrieved 12 lawmakers.

They described the 12 lawmakers as perpetual absentees at parliamentary meetings, plenary sittings and other activities of the House because they reside more outside the country.

The 14 lawmakers also said allegations against the speaker are figments of imagination that are bereft of facts.

“The assembly assures the people of the state of continued transparency to bring more dividends of democracy to people in accordance with our EASE government,” the letter stated.

Also the Assembly’s Majority Leader, Chief Olatunji Oshati in a statement on Friday in Akure, denied knowledge of any impeachment against the speaker.

Oshati said there was never such a topic of discussion at either the plenary sittings or any of the house parliamentary meetings.

He assured the people of the assembly’s commitment to people-centered legislation, which he said, must ensure the general interest of the people.

“Democracy will be regarded as healthy when we sometimes disagree to agree. If there is any disagreement, such should be reasonable.

“The assembly will use conflict resolution machinery to resolve whatever might have caused any disagreement.

“The media should always balance their stories before dissemination in order not to cause unnecessary tension as the ethics of their profession dictates,” the majority leader said.(NAN)