Nigeria: Ondo Assembly Crisis - 21 Lawmakers Ask Speaker to Resign or Be Forced Out

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Premium Times report from Abuja, said 21 members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have asked Speaker Olamide Oladiji to step down or face impeachment. Olatunji Fabiyi, chair of the House Committee on Information, told journalists on Wednesday in Akure that the lawmakers had signed an impeachment notice but chose to give the speaker additional time to resign voluntarily.

The dispute centres on allegations that Mr Oladiji received N44 million from the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, known as OSOPADEC, on behalf of lawmakers and failed to distribute it to them. Premium Times reported that it could not independently verify the allegation. Mr Oladiji has rejected the claim, calling it false and politically driven.

Mr Fabiyi said the crisis was linked to the handling of an OSOPADEC budget reordering. He alleged that a resolution was prepared in the names of Assembly members without their consent, and said the lawmakers had briefed Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to counter claims that the executive was behind the move. With 21 of 26 members supporting the action, the group has reached the two-thirds threshold required to remove the speaker, according to the report.

The report also noted that Olawumi Fayemi-Obayelu, who represents Ilaje Constituency II, had alleged threats to her life after seeking a probe of the speaker over the same matter. Mr Oladiji’s office dismissed the accusations and said on Tuesday that he had not considered resigning and that there was no leadership crisis in the Assembly.