Iroju, who was impeached on Tuesday by 18 out of the 26 lawmakers in the House was reinstated yesterday by 17 lawmakers who were present at the plenary session.
Speaking on the reinstatement of the Ogundeji as the Deputy Speaker, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Bamidele Oleyelogun said the reversal became imperative following the intervention of the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, the Ogun state governor, Ibikunle Amosun and the party leadership in the state.
The motion for Ogundeji reinstatement was moved by the majority leader of the House, Hon. Gbenga Araoyinbo and was seconded by Hon Fatai Olotu, who moved the impeachment notice yesterday.
Oleyelogun, however, said, ” in view of this, we move the reversal of the impeachment of Iroju Ogundeji as the Deputy Speaker of this Honourable House and he is hereby reinstated as the Deputy Speaker.”
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Also speaking after the less than a quarter of an hour sitting, the lawmaker representing the Akoko North West state constituency, Hon. Olotu said the intervention of the party leadership led to the reversal of the impeachment saying the lawmakers rescinded their decision in the interest of peace and the people of the state.
However, the erstwhile Speaker of the House, Hon. Jumoke Akindele frowned over the development and expressed her disappointment over the reversal of the impeachment of the Deputy Speaker.
She said ” you know we are in the minority, and what we are bearing now is the cross of minority and its okay. We have been in the majority before, but what we did yesterday met all the requirements of the law but the governor and the people they called Nigerians in their collective wisdom decided to prevail to reverse our decision. It’s been done and what more can we say.
Meanwhile, there was uproar at the state House of Assembly complex earlier on Wednesday morning, as some of the lawmakers allegedly exchanged blows over the Tuesday impeachment of Ogundeji.
The lawmakers had converged on the House of Assembly complex as early as 9 am for a parliamentary meeting, before the plenary session when a hot argument ensued between them.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that one of the lawmakers who was indisposed to the reinstatement of Ogundeji allegedly punched the impeached Deputy Speaker during the argument.
It was learnt that most of the lawmakers were not at home with the directive from Akeredolu, who waded into the matter on Tuesday evening and prevailed on the lawmakers to reverse their decision.
But one of the lawmakers, Olusiji Akindiose, denied any physical scuffle between the lawmakers but admitted there was shouting order which is not strange in any House of Assembly.
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It was gathered that most of the lawmakers warned the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon Bamidele Oleyelogun, against the move to revert the impeachment of Ogundeji and threatened to impeach the Speaker, if the decision is reversed.
Security operatives in the state were mobilised to the Assembly complex with the State Director of the Department of State Security and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gbenga Adeynju, were present at the assembly complex, to beef up security.
An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was stationed at the entrance of the Assembly complex while security operatives were deployed to maintain law and order.
Consequently, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Hon. Ade Adetimehin, stormed the Assembly complex with some leaders of the party to intervene.
Adetimehin had visited the Assembly in an effort to persuade the lawmakers to reinstate Ogundeji but all his efforts yielded no positive result.
Adetimehin however, called an emergency meeting with lawmakers on the platform of the APC, which lasted for about two hours before they reconvene at the House where the decision to impeach Ogundeji was reversed.
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