Why Oyo Minority leader is yet to lose seat despite defection —Speaker

Speaker, Oyo House of Assembly, Honourable Micheal Adeyemo, has said that the Assembly is restrained to act on the recent defection of some members of the opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) because the concerned members were yet to give formal notification of their defection to the Assembly.

Adeyemo stated this when questioned on why the Minority leader, Honourable Olagunju Ojo, was yet to lose his seat despite his defection from Labour party to APC.

Ojo, alongside some other state legislators elected on the platform of Labour party, Honourables Wumi Oladeji, Olukayode Akande and Lukman Balogun had received the APC flag at the December 16 event held at Mapo hall.

According to Adeyemo, in a conversation with Nigerian Tribune, on Thursday, the defection did not happen in the face of the Assembly hence it had no record of the legislators’ defection.

“That concerned member did his defection outside the Assembly, not in the face of the Speaker, and there House has not been notified. So, we see that event as something that happened outside the Assembly. We have a formal process in the Assembly and we cannot act on what happened outside the House.

“I have not received the notice and that defection never took place in the House. I expect that the concerned members should formally present their letters of defection from the party they initially belonged.

“Without a notice, upon what basis do I act? Do I act upon what happened at a gathering? It is unofficial. The Accord member who defected on the floor is official and we have a record of that. We do not have a record of what happened at the Mapo gathering,” Adeyemo said.

Meanwhile, the state Assembly has appealed to oil marketers and distributors to improve upon supply and distribution of fuel so as to end the current fuel scarcity in the country.

Chairman, Parliamentary caucus, Honourable Olusegun Ajanaku had expressed concern at Thursday’s plenary, noting that it would be unfair for some owners of filling stations to hoard fuel for their own selfish gains.