Speaking to newsmen during a press conference in Akure, Ondo State capital, Hon Sunday Olajide, representing Akure South Constituency II and Hon Olusola Oluyede, representing Ose Constituency, claimed their signatures were forged and distanced themselves from the purported impeachment.
According to the lawmakers, they were surprised to see their names and signatures as reported by some section of the media and described their involvement in the purported impeachment as a fraud, maintaining their signatures were forged.
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While speaking, Olajide said he was not in the state when the impeachment was carried out and could not have hold any meeting or append his signature to displaced the embattled Speaker of the House.
Olajide said he was neither informed nor briefed on the purported impeachment and dissociated himself from the purported impeachment, saying it was criminal for anyone to forge his signature without his consent.
Similarly, Oluyede denied his involvement in the impeachment and expressed shock to find his name and signature on the notice of the impeachment.
“I am here to deny the rumour of the purported impeachment. I am not part of it and cannot be part of it,” he said.
He noted that the names and signatures used during the last Friday impeachment, were the old ones used during the impeachment of the Deputy Speaker some few months ago, saying the names and signatures were “doctored” to suit the purpose illegally.
The two lawmakers however urged members of the public to disregard the claims made by other lawmakers and implored the security operatives to investigate the fraudulent activities of the Olamide George-led faction.
The impeached Deputy Speaker, Iroju, however argued that the impeachment process flouted the rules laid down in the constitution for the removal of principal officers.
“We are 26 honourable members and for any principal of the House of Assembly to be impeached, the two-third must be complete and sign the impeachment paper before such impeachment would be carried out.
“So out of that 18 members that signed the impeachment paper two of them have said now that their signatures were forged. That means, the two-third have not been fulfilled as that regards.
“This is to tell the whole world that the Speaker Oleyelogun still remains the Speaker and I, Ogundeji Iroju, still remain as the Deputy Speaker of the House.The purported impeachment was not in line with the constitution.”
Other lawmakers who spoke during the press conference expressed their continued support for the impeached Speaker, Oleyelogun, saying the purported impeachment did not satisfy the constitutional requirement of the House as signatures collated were not up to 18 which represents the two-third requirement.
Oleyelogun however, suspended the 15 lawmakers, dispelled the impeachment as null and void, urging the DSS and other security agencies to arrest them and charged them for forgery and perjury.
Oleyelogun said: “They claimed to have formed two-third as a condition to impeach the Speaker and the Deputy speaker, whereas they were less in number as Hon Sunday Olajide and Hon Olusola Oluyede were not part of the attempted impeachment.
“In view of this the House has taken the decision on it to call on the security agents to probe that purported signatures and names so that those involved in that forgery will quickly brought to book and questioning.”
It will be recalled that pandemonium broke out in the Ondo State House of Assembly last Friday, as hoodlums suspected to be political thugs invaded the state Assembly complex over the removal of the Speaker and his deputy.
The lawmakers during the impeachment presented 18 names and signatures which were reportedly collated and published in the national dailies on Sunday, 11th November, 2018.
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