The crisis rocking the leadership of the Ondo State House of Assembly took another dimension on Friday when 24 out of the 26 lawmakers allegedly declared their support for the removal of the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji.
The lawmakers were reported to have alleged Oladiji of financial impropriety, abuse of office and acting without the approval of the House.
The dispute is about ₦44 million allegedly linked to the reordering of the budget of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission.
Olawunmi Fayemi-Obayelu, spokesman for the aggrieved lawmakers, representing Ilaje Constituency II, said three more lawmakers had joined the initial 21 to support the impeachment move.
“The development showed the Speaker had lost the confidence of an overwhelming majority of the Assembly,” she said.
The lawmakers, he said, had carefully avoided public comments after Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s intervention secured a two-week window for reconciliation.
But she said the peace period would elapse on Sunday, adding that the lawmakers still planned to remove Oladiji.
Fayemi-Obayelu also accused the Speaker of passing a resolution in the name of the House without getting the approval of members.
She also raised concerns on the handling of electricity meters distributed under the state government’s O’Datiwa Meter Distribution Programme.
The lawmaker urged Oladiji to resign in the interest of the Assembly and also to protect his political reputation.
Speaker Claims Political Conspiracy
But Oladiji denied the allegations and said the move against him was politically motivated.
The Speaker said the impeachment move was politically motivated in view of the elections in 2027 and not on issues of financial accountability.
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Some of the lawmakers, he said, were aggrieved after failing to secure return tickets and were also unhappy over alleged support for his continued leadership of the Assembly.
Meanwhile, the Chairman House Committee on Information and Assembly spokesman, Olatunji Fabiyi, said the Speaker’s explanation was unacceptable.
Fabiyi stressed that the impeachment move was predicated on governance, accountability and alleged violations of legislative procedure.
He accused Oladiji of taking action on the re-ordering of the OSOPADEC budget without the approval of the House.
The lawmakers’ decision to seek the removal of the Speaker, however, remained unchanged, he said.
Governor Aiyedatiwa and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains have stepped into the crisis to reconcile the warring parties.
But the aggrieved lawmakers insisted they had lost confidence in Oladiji’s leadership and were ready to continue with the removal process.