Ondo assembly lawmakers stop planned presentation of budget

THE crisis rocking the Ondo State House of Assembly, on Wednesday, took a new twist as aggrieved lawmakers opposed to the Speaker, Honourable Jumoke Akindele, occupied the House of Assembly complex very early in the morning.

The 13 aggrieved lawmakers, who resumed at the assembly complex as early as 6:00a.m. waited for the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, who was billed to present the 2017 appropriation bill.

It was gathered that the aggrieved lawmakers took their breakfast on the floor of the house while they also ordered for their lunch while the session could not hold.

The lawmakers loyal to the speaker, however, kept away from the floor apparently to avoid clash with the aggrieved lawmakers.

The lawmakers, after waiting till 4:00p.m. without any news from the governor, decided to hold session without the Clerk of the House, Bode Adeyelu, while the mace was also missing, before adjourning the sitting.

However, some protesters suspected to be sympathetic to the aggrieved lawmakers invaded the entrance of the assembly, vowing to stop the state governor from entering the complex to present the budget.

The governor is having only three weeks to end his tenure.

The protesters, armed with placards, reportedly harassed motorists at the Oda Road axis of the state capital, while they prevented vehicular movement into the assembly complex.

The protest, which was however hijacked by hoodlums, saw the protesters screening and embarrassing journalists and motorists who visited the assembly complex, while food and drinks were served to them by their alleged sponsors.

There was heavy presence of security agents at the entrance of the assembly complex to maintain law and order.

A government official, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity, said the governor decided to keep off the assembly complex over the security report about the situation.

He said the governor stayed away in order to prevent clash between members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters who were present at the venue.

The assembly was sealed off by the state police command following a leadership crisis but it was opened on Wednesday for the governor to present the bill.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman, PDP, Ondo State, Mr Fatai Adams, on Wednesday, urged the aggrieved members of the state House of Assembly to resolve the ongoing crisis internally.

Speaking with NAN in Akure, on Wednesday, Adams said the crisis was a house affair and should be resolved internally.

“The crisis they are trying to manage is an internal issue and should be resolved within.

“As a party leader, we are trying to settle their differences because we also have a PDP caucus in the house,” he said.

However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Publicity Secretary in the state, Mr Abayomi Adesanya, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest the principal officers of the state assembly.

Adesanya urged the EFCC to quiz the embattled speaker, deputy speaker and the majority leader, in order to unravel the circumstances of the allegation.

The APC publicity secretary also told NAN that the EFCC should widen its focus to cover other activities of the assembly under the present leadership.

The suspension of the affected members was carried out by 14 of the 26 lawmakers, comprising of five APC and nine PDP members.