Impeached Deputy Speaker Hon Ogundeji has said disgruntled lawmakers who couldn’t win the ticket of the APC at the primaries were behind Friday impeachment.
Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Members of the Ondo State House of Assembly on Friday impeached the Speaker of the House, David Oloyelogun and his deputy, Ogundeji Iroju.
The lawmakers thereafter elected a new speaker and deputy to pilot the affairs of the House.
The new Speaker, Mr Olamide George who represents Akure North constituency was elected by majority of the members at the plenary presided over by a former speaker of the House, Mrs Funke Akindele.
READ ALSO: Ondo state speaker, deputy impeached
Also, Mr Abimbola Fajolu from Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo constituency emerged the deputy speaker.
Eighteen members of the House allegedly signed the impeachment notice of Oloyelogun and Iroju during the plenary. The former Speaker, Oloyelogun and his deputy, Iroju were accused of gross misconduct, maladministration and poor leadership style.
Addressing newsmen, the new Speaker, Mr Olamide George noted that the move was meant to correct the imbalances in the House and not to witch hunt the state government.
Reacting to his impeachment, Mr Oloyelogun maintained that he remains the speaker.
Men of the Nigeria Police and other security personnel blocked the entrance to the House of Assembly premises when our correspondent visited the House.
Also, mobile policemen were drafted to the Assembly complex to prevent breakdown of law and order.
Recall that Oloyelogun emerged the Speaker after the impeachment of Mrs Akindele, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu emerged the governor of the State in February 2017.
The former deputy Speaker, Iroju had earlier been impeached by the House before he was reinstated on the intervention of Governor Akeredolu and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Meanwhile, the impeached Deputy Speaker, Hon Iroju Ogundeji, has said disgruntled and unpopular lawmakers who couldn’t win the ticket of the APC at the primaries to return to the Assembly were behind Friday impeachment.
Iroju in an interview on Friday evening said the lawmakers thought Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was behind their ordeal and decided to stage a pseudo impeachment as the best way to fight back and destabilise the peace of the legislative arm and the state.
He said “the sitting where the impeachment was carried out was illegal because Friday is not a sitting day for us. We’ve been hearing rumours of their gang up to destabilise the House because they couldn’t win their primaries, we’ve called them to warn them but they decided to hold illegal sitting.
“I was away when I heard that some 15 aggrieved lawmakers had carried out impeachment, the sitting and all their activities didn’t follow the dictate of the constitution. 15 did not meet up with quorum, only 18 of the 26 lawmakers can impeach and they didn’t even serve us an impeachment notice.
“They only conducted an illegal impeachment without the authority of the House which is the mace and it is in the Speaker’s office. Those of us that are loyal to the government went back to the House, 12 of us conducted a proceeding and suspended the 15 lawmakers involved in the shameful act.”