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Fajolu replaces impeached Ondo Deputy Speaker

By Oluwaseun Akingboye, Akure.
23 May 2018   |   4:18 am
Less than 72 hours after the state congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, the State House of Assembly, impeached the Deputy Speaker, Ogundeji Iroju, for gross misconduct. 

Ondo State House of Assembly

Less than 72 hours after the state congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, the State House of Assembly, impeached the Deputy Speaker, Ogundeji Iroju, for gross misconduct.

Iroju was impeached by 18 out of the 22 lawmakers, who sat and presented their signatures to the Speaker, Mr. Bamidele Oleyelogun at the plenary session yesterday.

The former Deputy Speaker, from Odigbo Constituency 1, was accused of high-handedness, malfeasance, misappropriation of funds and gross disrespect to the Office of the Speaker.

The motion for his impeachment was moved by Mr. Fatai Olotu and seconded by Mr. Malachi Coker, while the nomination of the new Deputy Speaker was moved by Mr. Sunday Olajide and seconded by Princess Jumoke Akindele.

He was replaced with Mr. Abimbola Fajolu from Ileoluji/Okeigbo Constituency, who was immediately sworn in by the Clerk of the House, Mr. Bode Adeyelu, while the 26-member Assembly passed a vote of confidence on the Speaker.

For the record, Iroju, who stormed out of the session, was one of the active players in the impeachment saga of the former Speaker, Akindele last year before the swearing in of the Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu-led administration on February 24, 2017.

Iroju, during the prolonged battle with Akindele and the former Deputy Speaker, Olotu, before their final resignation in March 2017, had worked for the election of Coker as the Speaker of a factional Assembly.

Olotu, Coker and Akindele, who were members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with Iroju, before the latter deflected to the ruling APC with other PDP lawmakers to become Deputy Speaker on April 3, 2017, was ousted by his colleagues.

But some political analysts in the state, who pleaded anonymity, said it was a conspiracy to weed out the former Assembly chieftain because of his unbearable influence in the House.

They stressed that he had assumed the powerful position of being the mouthpiece of the lawmakers, most importantly, the recent outcry against the governor that he was starving the Assembly of funds.

It was also gathered that the impeachment process was an effect of the congresses conducted across the state in the past three weeks, which some party chieftains lamented that some politicians schemed them out.

However, others noted that: “Iroju was caught up by nemesis and he has reaped what he sowed in the political sphere. Whosoever sows sand will reap the seed of stones. The impeachment serves him right as what goes around comes around.”

Several attempts to reach the impeached officer proved abortive as he deliberately ignored all the calls across to his phone, he eventually cut the calls.

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