Ondo Assembly suspends deputy speaker, two others

• Ajayi tasks CJ on sanctity of law, integrity

The Deputy Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Iroju Ogundeji, has been suspended indefinitely.Two other members suspended alongside Ogundeji were Adewale Williams and Favour Tomomewo.

Ogundeji and Williams, representing Odigbo I and Ondo West II Constituencies respectively, were suspended for unruly behaviour while Tomomewo, who is the only female from Ilaje Constituency, was absent at the plenary session.

They were among the nine lawmakers who did not sign the impeachment notice against the embattled deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi.The House said that the trio violated the standard rule of the House, while the Majority Leader, Jamiu Maito, representing Akoko North West Constituency, who refused to append his signature to the impeachment notice, resigned his office.

The deputy governor, in an open letter to the state Chief Judge (CJ), Olanrewaju Akeredolu, urged her not to yield to the pressure from politicians to impeach him illegally. He alleged that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was desperate to remove him from office, accusing him of trampling on the sanctity of the constitution.

Ajayi, who described the action of the lawmakers as illegality, said the people of the state still hold the belief that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

“Your Lordship, the point here is that the impeachment process initiated by 14 members of the Ninth session of the Ondo State House of Assembly on July 7, 2020, is dead on arrival.

Meanwhile, ahead of the governorship primary in Ondo State, the factional state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Henry Olatuja, has warned the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, to steer clear of the state politics.

At a press conference in Akure yesterday by the APC faction, Olatuja reiterated why direct mode of primary should be adopted so that the party could win the October 10, 2020 governorship election.

He alleged that Fayemi was trying to impose his friend, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on the party faithful in the state. He, therefore, urged the national leadership of the party to warn Ekiti State governor to desist from undue interference, saying that it is grossly inimical to the success of APC in the forthcoming governorship election.

However, a former commissioner and supporter of the deputy governor, who pleaded anonymity, expressed shock at the turn of events at the Assembly.
According to him: “We knew they were planning impeachment but all along, it was seen as a mere paper work that would not come to reality because the deputy governor gave us confidence.

“He did not just give us confidence, we knew of course.

“He kept on assuring us that all was well and that majority members of the Assembly were his loyalists; but what we have seen baffles all of us. It means that there is a price on every politician.”

He, however, affirmed that Ajayi, who had recently boasted that he could not be impeached, had majority in House, adding: “I can tell you guys that the man, I mean the deputy governor, was in firm control of the House before but we suddenly saw the notice that was signed by 14 members.

“But our greatest surprise is how the Speaker allowed such an item on the Order Paper. From the look of things, some lawyers may have mixed up some aspects of the constitution by referring to two-thirds for removal and one-third for service of notice.

“It is now clear and the best option is to see if we can advise our principal to resign and face his governorship campaign for the PDP primary,” the former commissioner said.