Ondo Assembly: Mass defection of PDP lawmakers looms

BARRING any last-minute prevention measure, a number of members of the Ondo State House of Assembly elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Sunday Tribune investigations revealed that more than half of the remaining 14 members of the PDP in the House might jump ship in the next few weeks, though the lawmakers have kept sealed lips on the plan.

The PDP had earlier lost seven of the 21 members of the party to the APC few months ago, following a crisis that engulfed the House and led to the impeachment of the former Speaker of the House, Honorable Jumoke Akindele.

Thirteen aggrieved lawmakers of the House had, in January 2017, in a dramatic style, suspended and subsequently impeached the first female Speaker, Akindele, over an alleged financial mismanagement.

The action of the 13 aggrieved lawmakers had divided the 26-member House into two, with those loyal to Akindele remaining adamant, while the others installed Hon.  Malachi Coker as the acting Speaker.

Though the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, on several occasions, attempted to broker peace between the warring factions to no avail until the government of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was inaugurated on February 24, 2017.

The 13 factional lawmakers, comprising APC and eight PDP members, went ahead to elect a  Bamidele Oleyelogun as the new speaker, with the lawmaker immediately defecting to the APC.

The other 13 loyal to Akindele had, however, described the election of Oleyelogun as an exercise in futility, with both factions withdrawing from the floor of the House.

With the impending defection of more PDP lawmakers to the APC, Sunday Tribune gathered that a fresh round of crisis might be brewing in the House, a development that might further hamper the activities of the state government including the consideration of the commissioners’ list, among others.

While speaking with Sunday Tribune, the Senior Special Adviser on Legislative Matter to the state governor, Hon. Taofeek Abdulsalam, said that no fewer than four lawmakers from the PDP had signified their intention to join the APC, expressing optimism that other lawmakers “will join the ruling party before the end of May.”

Abdulsalam, who is a former speaker of the state House of Assembly, said “about three or four lawmakers are coming on board when the House resumes session next week. They will formally declare their defection to APC.”

He, however, said the crisis in the House had been resolved.

Also speaking on the development, one of the lawmakers loyal to the embattled speaker, who is also the chairman of the House committee on Information, Hon.  Siji Akindiose, said the House had resolved to move the state forward and it would resume sitting this week.

He, however, maintained that he was not among those plotting to dump the PDP, saying: “Anybody can cross to any party at anytime but I can tell you that, I, Hon. Siji Akindiose, remain a PDP member in the state.”