Ondo Assembly plunges deeper into crisis despite resumption

Moves for truce collapse as governor backs faction

The Ondo State House of Assembly dramatically resumed plenary session about seven weeks after security agents sealed off the complex over a leadership crisis. The squabble however is far from being over, as the two divides of the parliament remain stuck to their trenche, maintaining different leadership to the House.

The 26-member Assembly has been equally split, 13 legislators each, behind Mrs. Jumoke Akindele, who was controversially impeached in January and Mr. Malachi Coker, who emerged after the impeachment.

Last week at the resumption of plenary, 12 members loyal to Coker were in attendance while the 13 members that are backing Akindele boycotted the sitting. Although sources confirmed that stakeholders including politicians and elders of the state intervened to resolve the issues, the rumbling was stoked recently when the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) pit tent with a faction.

The governor had at a public function organized for the inauguration of the newly appointed secretary to the state government (SSG), Ifedayo Abegunde and chief of staff (COS), Gbenga Ale, acknowledged Coker as speaker of the House.

This prompted criticism from many particularly those sympathetic to the impeached speaker’s faction believed to be supportive of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the immediate past governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.

Besides political observers argued that the singular act by the governor put a spanner to the peace process especially when it has been agreed that both leadership should step down for a new one to be elected.

The Guardian learnt that Akindele and other principal officers on her side had sequel to rapprochement process, tendered their resignation letters. The leadership from Coker’s faction was expected to do the same, to allow peace to reign and pave way for the election of new principal officers of the Assembly.

Apart from Akindele, others involved include: the deputy speaker, Fatai Olotu; the majority leader, Ifedayo Akinsoyinu; Obadiah Vincent, the deputy majority leader; Mrs. Adesanya Kemisola, the whip and Mr. Towase Kuti, the assistant parliamentary secretary.

Their resignation letters, which came on the heels of reconciliation between the two warring factions, have been received by the Clerk of the House, Mr. Bode Adeyelu, the governor and the state commissioner of Police, sources in the Assembly confirmed.

Apparently, they have been deceived into taking an action that could permanently seal their hope of returning to the leadership positions, as Coker and the principal officers with him did not and are not contemplating any resignation.

Ousted chairman of the House Committee on Information, Siji Akindiose, described the governor’s recognition of Coker as speaker at a public function as a “huge error in protocol” for a person of such legal standing.

According to him, “We received with shock and disappointment this ill-advised subversion of the leadership of the House of Assembly. This is an endorsement of illegality.”
He declared the legislators’ unflinching support for Akindele’s leadership of the Assembly and accused the governor of being a clog in the wheel of progress in the bid to resolve the crisis.

“The purported tactical recognition of Hon. Malachi Coker as speaker by the protocol of the government is a setback for the ongoing reconciliation efforts of stakeholders in which Mr. Governor is a mediator.

“In line with our resolve to bring to an end the crisis in the Assembly, we have participated actively in the reconciliation process which led to the withdrawal of the case in court in deference to the intervention of the governor,” he stated.

Akindiose claimed that the intervention had put a lot of skirmishes at bay lamenting, “it is therefore strange to us to see that the protocol of the government would recognise a wrong person as Speaker of the House while reconciliation is ongoing.”

The former committee maintained that Akeredolu and his cohorts have embark on a suspicious plan to take advantage of their readiness for settlement to get back at them, stressing that the Coker faction didn’t meet up with the constitutional requirements when they purportedly impeached Akindele.

He therefore insisted that the removed speaker still subsist as the head of the state legislature. “We therefore state unequivocally that Rt. Hon. Jumoke Akindele remains the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly. The leadership of the Assembly remains intact.

“However, we remain committed to the reconciliation process that will lead to the reopening of the Assembly chambers for lawmakers to carry out their constitutional duties,” he said.

But the Coker group who are basking in the euphoria of their victory, at least for now, are bent on taking their advantage to its logical conclusion. They have ordered the police to retrieve the Assembly’s properties from the former principal officers.

The order according to the majority leader from that faction, Olamide George, is informed by the fact that Akindele and co have been impeached and they remain sacked from the offices.

He argued that the circumstance that led to the sack of the former leadership of the House is incontrovertible, adding that the N15 million allegedly withdrawn by the former leadership was without due process and approved parliamentary resolutions.

The lawmaker reiterated that the election of Coker, George and Ayodeji Arowele as the duly elected speaker, majority leader and deputy speaker of the Assembly respectively, remains valid.

Similarly, the new speaker announced, at the plenary, which was also attended by the Clerk of the House and security agencies, that Akindele, Olotu and Akinsoyinu, remained impeached and suspended from the Hose sessions due to the allegations against them.

Consequently, he ordered the police to withdraw their security details attached to them and retrieve all government properties in their possession immediately. He also dissolved all standing committees of the Assembly, but upheld that Mr. Ayodeji Iroju stays as the spokesperson of the legislature.