THE Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon Jumoke Akindele, on Tuesday, broke her silence over the crisis in the state House of Assembly, which led to closure of the assembly complex by the security agents in the state.
Akindele in a statement issued and signed by herself, attributed the development in the state’s hallowed chamber to the ambition of some of the lawmakers in becoming Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House by showing their loyalty to the incoming administration in the state.
She said “They are desirous of becoming speaker and deputy speaker at all cost and are therefore playing to the gallery to show the incoming government that they are “disenchanted” with the outgoing governor”
Denying the allegations of fraud levelled against her, the Speaker explained that she was not a signatory to the cheques of the House and could not have ordered the withdrawal of the said money in contention for her personal use.
Akindele however said the controversial money was meant for some projects in the House while the consent of the approving authority had been sort before the paymaster who was humiliated by the lawmakers visited bank to withdraw the said money.
She said “I wish to place it on record that though I am the signatory to the schedule, I am not a signatory to the cheques of the House. I did sign the schedule in line with the budget passed by the House so that I do not hold up the business of the House.
“I did not speak with the Clerk and I most certainly did not speak with the Director of Finance and Administration on the issue of cheques or any other matter at all.
“I wish to emphatically place it on record that the funds in question are meant for some projects in the House as passed in the Budget and approved by the Approving Authority. Only the unfair ones who are hell bent on superintending the House funds have problems with where the funds are kept.
I did not ask the Pay Master, Mr Makanjuola Adeshina, who was unfortunately brutalised by some of my colleagues to bring any funds to my House.
“The Pay Master is the lawful custodian of all unspent funds of the House and he was only acting in his official capacity as such.”
Akindele stated that she was not desperate about retaining the speakership of the House after the expiration of the present administration, saying that “I am not desperate to continue to sit as speaker in the Assembly. I wish to place it on record and I have said to all that cares to listen that I was actually set to resign because the geopolitical configuration of the state had changed since the emergence of the Governor from the North and the Deputy Governor from the South.
“On my part I have prepared myself for resignation since the emergence of Hon John Mafo as the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP who is from the South where I hail from.
“I have chosen to sustain this position, in spite of my willingness to resign because I owe it to all Speakers and all law abiding people in Nigeria who are naturally worried of the dangerous precedent that may be created if fraud, forgery and forceful takeover of this nature is allowed to prevail.”
She condemned the steps taken by the rebellious lawmakers, forging the signatures of five of the lawmakers who were not on their side, in a desperate attempt to form a quorum and remove her as the head of the state Assembly.
“It is disheartening that some of my honourable colleagues forged the signatures of five members to make up their list.
“The members whose signatures were forged have strenuously asserted that their signatures were forged and have stood with the leadership of the House since the unfolding of this sad chapter in the annals of the history of our State.” the embattled Speaker said.
She said further that “Section.92(2) (c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is clear on the procedure for the removal of a Speaker or Deputy Speaker. The standing orders of the House is also explicit on the same subject. It is unconstitutional, illegal and therefore null and void for anyone to contrive to do so in any other manner.
“While I believe that change is inevitable and may even be desirable, it must be in accordance with the law. In our laws, the speaker or deputy speaker can only be removed by the appropriate number of members prescribed.
“In the Ondo State House of Assembly, to purport to remove the leadership of the House by less than 18 members is a nullity that cannot stand.”
She however called on the lawmakers to toll the line of peace in order to move the state forwardand ensure that we do the desirable as guided by the dictates of our oaths of office.”
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