Thugs Invade Ondo Assembly To Foil Speaker’s Impeachment

The crisis rocking the Ondo State House of Assembly took a dramatic turn on Thursday as suspected political thugs allegedly invaded the premises of the Assembly, disrupting plans by lawmakers to commence plenary over the proposed impeachment of the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji.

The suspected thugs, numbering about four, reportedly appeared at the Assembly complex shortly before the lawmakers were expected to commence plenary.

Their presence allegedly created tension on the premises, forcing the intervention of men of the Ondo State Police Command, who reportedly ordered them out of the Assembly complex.

Following the development, the planned plenary session could not hold, while the lawmakers instead proceeded with a parliamentary meeting on  the premises of the Assembly.

A member of the House, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting was centred on the proposed removal of the Speaker, insisting that the lawmakers remained committed to the impeachment process.

“The man is gone already,” the lawmaker said, alleging that the men who appeared at the Assembly were political thugs sent to frustrate the lawmakers from carrying out the impeachment.

“He sent thugs to the Assembly to attack us but he was disappointed. We are not holding plenary again, but we will still meet to impeach him,” the lawmaker alleged.

The development came against the backdrop of weeks of crisis in the Assembly, with 21 out of the 26 lawmakers reportedly signing an impeachment notice against Oladiji over allegations of financial misconduct.

The Speaker had been accused of diverting N44 million allegedly meant for the reordering of the budget of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC). Oladiji has, however, denied the allegation.

Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone shortly before the lawmakers’ meeting, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Olatunji Fabiyi, said the impeachment would definitely be carried out.

Fabiyi dismissed reports that the lawmakers had abandoned the process, describing such reports as misinformation, while insisting that Oladiji could no longer remain Speaker.

‎“We have been hearing news that we have disembarked on the process. This is a lie, that is misinformation. We are still on it. He can’t be our Speaker again. Although the governor has been speaking with some of us, that does not stop the impeachment. There is no going back,” he said.

‎However, Oladiji denied allegations that he sponsored or sent political thugs to the Assembly, explaining that the men were members of his constituency who came to the complex for another purpose.

‎According to him, he had invited about three of his youth leaders to the Assembly to pick forms for recruitment, but some lawmakers questioned their presence and subsequently asked them to leave the premises.

‎The Speaker said he came out of his office to pacify the lawmakers, stressing that the visitors had previously been coming to the Assembly without causing any disturbance.

‎“There’s nothing like impeachment process because the issue has been resolved and there is no impeachment. Mr Governor and other leaders of the party have already intervened, and today we are supposed to have our parliamentary meeting,” Oladiji said.

‎He maintained that the matter had been resolved and there was no longer any impeachment process, setting the stage for further uncertainty over the leadership of the Assembly as the opposing camps continued to hold divergent positions.