Twenty-one members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have issued a notice to the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, asking him to resign his position over allegations of corruption or face impeachment.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Olatunji Fabiyi, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday in Akure, the state capital.
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PREMIUM TIMES could not, however, independently ascertain the veracity of the claim at the time of filing this report.
This newspaper reported that Mr Oladiji was accused by his colleagues of collecting N44 million from the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) on their behalf without sharing it among members of the legislature.
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He, however, denied the allegation, saying it was false and politically motivated.
Regardless, 21 of the 26 members of the House vowed to proceed with removing the speaker if he fails to resign at the expiration of the ultimatum.
With the figure, the lawmakers have met the statutory two-thirds majority to remove Mr Oladiji from office.
Mr Fabiyi said they have signed an impeachment notice against the embattled speaker, but that they resolved to give him a few more days to resign voluntarily.
According to Mr Fabiyi, failure to resign at the expiration of the ultimatum would result in his removal during the next plenary session.
He dispelled insinuations that the move was being orchestrated by the executive, noting that the leadership of the House had briefed the governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on the development.
He insisted that the crisis was an internal matter, which he said was caused by the speaker’s alleged misconduct.
Shedding light on the allegations, Mr Fabiyi explained that the handling of the OSOPADEC budget reordering triggered the crisis.
He alleged that a resolution was fraudulently written in the name of the members without their knowledge or approval, a development he described as a criminal offence.
“It is about the OSOPADEC budget. A resolution was written in the name of members without our knowledge. It was stated that members had sat down and agreed to it and that it was our resolution, which it was not,” Mr Fabiyi said.
“It is a criminal offence. You cannot shave our heads behind our backs. That is what we are fighting for. So, if somebody is protecting him, it means that person is aiding and abetting him.”
The lawmaker noted that the governor had intervened and requested time for the matter to be resolved amicably, but the lawmakers are determined to see the speaker removed from office.
“We have resolved that Mr Speaker should go. But in the wisdom of the leadership of the House, we felt we should meet with Mr Governor. And we have taken the resolution of the members to Mr Governor because of the one we did before, they were castigating us, saying somebody was sponsoring us,” he said.
Earlier, a female member of the Assembly, Olawumi Fayemi-Obayelu, representing Ilaje Constituency II, had alleged her life was threatened because she was pressing for the investigation of the speaker over the alleged N44 million scandal.
Mrs Fayemi-Obayelu accused the Speaker of attempting to intimidate and silence her following her probe into the alleged diversion of funds meant for the development of riverine communities in Ilaje Local Government Area.
The speaker dismissed all her allegations, describing them as “sensational, malicious, and entirely fabricated.”
He denied any knowledge of an impeachment notice or a leadership crisis within the Assembly.
A statement from the speaker’s office on Tuesday dismissed the call for his resignation, saying he had no intention to resign.
“We state unequivocally, without an atom of ambiguity, that Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji never contemplated resigning, nor is there any leadership crisis within the 10th Ondo State House of Assembly.
“The report is a total figment of the imagination of its authors and their nameless, cowardly sources. It is false, completely lacks merit, and is sponsored by desperate political detractors aimed at destabilising the legislative arm and heating the polity,” the statement said.
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