Inauguration of the tenth legislature of the Ogun State House of Assembly slated for Tuesday has been postponed, impeccable sources confirmed to Daily Trust.
The postponement followed an unresolved battle against the candidate anointed as the Speaker by Governor Dapo Abiodun, it was gathered.
Daily Trust had exclusively reported that the outgoing Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, running for re-election is embroiled in a stiff survival battle ahead of the inauguration.
Oluomo is currently in court for allegedly diverting N2.5 billion belonging to the Assembly.
But insiders told our correspondent that Oluomo who narrowly won election for the Ifo I constituency during the March 18 election, may not return as the Speaker except last-minute resolve between him and his opponents.
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Of all the 26 seats in the House, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 17, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won nine seats.
Reliable sources told Daily Trust that some forces within the ruling party and some of the members-elect who were part of the defunct ninth assembly are displeased with Oluomo’s ‘leadership style’.
Last year, about 16 lawmakers reportedly appended their signatures consenting to impeaching the Speaker, but he escaped the plot.
Already, an erstwhile Deputy Speaker of House, Oludaisi Elemide, has joined the speakership race and he is considered a major threat to Oluomo’s re-election.
Elemide, a loyalist of the former Governor Olusegun Osoba, stepped down for Oluomo to emerge as the Speaker unopposed during the inauguration of ninth legislature on June 10, 2019.
The three-time lawmaker, representing Odeda constituency, has the backing of some aggrieved lawmakers to unseat Oluomo, insiders told Daily Trust.
Other sources, however, said Oluomo had secured the buy-in of Governor Dapo Abiodun to return as the Speaker.
The 17 members-elect of APC had been divided by Oluomo and Elemide, leaving the PDP members to decide where the pendulum would swing.
Both Oluomo and Elemide are from Ogun Central, the region expected to produce the speaker in line with the zoning arrangement.
Our correspondent reliably gathered on Tuesday that the inauguration has now been postponed till June 20 after a consensus could not be reached to return Abiodun’s anointed candidate as the Speaker.
It was further gathered that apart from the intra-party resistance to Oluomo’s re-election, members-elect of PDP are equally not in agreement with the governor on his choice for the speaker.
Impeccable sources within the ruling party said some stakeholders prevailed on Abiodun who is out of the state to attend the National Assembly’s inauguration in Abuja, to shift the state parliament’s swearing in.
“The party leaders feared the opposition may take over the assembly in his absence and this would spell doom for his administration,” a source told Daily Trust on Tuesday.
Abiodun had issued a proclamation letter, stating that the tenth legislature of the House of Assembly would be inaugurated today.
A statement by the Clerk of the House, Deji Adeyemo, at the early hours of Tuesday confirmed postponement of inauguration.
The terse statement reads “IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT This is to inform you that the Holding of the First Session of the Tenth Assembly of the Ogun State Legislature has been postponed to Tuesday, 20th June, 2023.
“Any inconvenience caused by this announcement is regretted.”
Adeyemo was silent on the reason for postponement of the inaugural session.
The Publicity Secretary of APC, Tunde Oladunjoye, had not responded to enquiry from our correspondent on the party’s position ahead of the House of Assembly’s inauguration.
But the Spokesman of the PDP, Akinloye Bankole, said PDP members-elect “cannot, in good conscience support Oluomo as the speaker of the house.”
Bankole said Oluomo who is facing corruption charges lacks the moral right to aspire to become the Speaker of the Assembly.
“Members-elect on the platform of PDP cannot in good conscience support Mr. Oluomo as the speaker of the house. The leadership of our party is currently in consultation with other stakeholders as far as the composition of house leadership is concerned.
“Definitely, we shall act in the best interest of the good people of Ogun State,” he told our correspondent.
