The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been urged to investigate allegations that top officials of the Ondo State House of Assembly orchestrated the forgery of lawmakers’ signatures to facilitate the approval of a controversial amendment to the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) budget valued at about N70 billion.

The request is contained in a petition submitted by the Ondo State Concerned Youth for Good Governance, which accused the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Olamide Adesanmi Oladiji, Deputy Speaker Hon. Gbegudu Ololade, and the Clerk of the House, Jayeola B.T., Esq., of conspiring to carry out the alleged act.

According to the petition, dated July 27, 2026, and addressed to the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Ado-Ekiti Zonal Directorate, the alleged incident occurred on December 11, 2025, when an amended OSOPADEC budget was purportedly approved without the knowledge or participation of the majority of lawmakers.

The petitioners alleged that a document presented as an official House Resolution, referenced ODHA/98/253/271 and titled “Request for House of Assembly Resolution to Amend and Re-direct Certain Line Items in the 2025 Approved OSOPADEC Budget,” was used to authorize significant budget changes despite the absence of a properly convened legislative sitting.

They further claimed that the names of all members of the Ondo State House of Assembly appeared on the resolution, but their signatures were allegedly forged to create the impression that the lawmakers attended the session and endorsed the budget adjustment.

The petition, signed by Abel Kosoko, Esq., counsel to the civil society group, alleged that no member of the Assembly, apart from the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Clerk, was present during the purported approval of the resolution.

According to the petitioners, the adjusted 2025 OSOPADEC recurrent expenditure should have undergone the standard legislative process, including formal presentation, debate, scrutiny of individual budget items and voting by members before any amendment could lawfully take effect.

They argued that those constitutional and parliamentary procedures were allegedly ignored, raising concerns over the legitimacy of the budget revision and the authenticity of the legislative resolution.

The group attached copies of the disputed House Resolution and the adjusted expenditure details as supporting evidence and called on the EFCC to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations and ensure that anyone found culpable is held accountable in accordance with the law.

As of the time of filing this report, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Clerk of the House, and the Ondo State House of Assembly had not publicly responded to the allegations contained in the petition.