ARMED police officers have cordoned off the Ondo State House of Assembly compex following reports of an alleged plot to impeach the Speaker, Bamidele Oloyelogun.
This development occurred shortly after a letter purportedly written by the Speaker, announcing his resignation, surfaced.
It was rumoured that the Speaker, in a desperate attempt to avoid impending impeachment, hastily wrote the letter just a few days to the end of the 9th Assembly, which he leads.
Could not confirm the exact reasons behind the alleged plot to remove the Speaker as it remains unclear.
However, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Gbenga Omole, confirmed the presence of armed security personnel at the Assembly complex.
Omole further revealed that the security personnel prevented the final plenary sitting scheduled to take place on Friday.
However, he debunked reports of the Speaker’s resignation, alleging that his signature was forged on the purported resignation letter.
Omole in the same vein condemned attempts to disrupt the last session of the Assembly.
Meanwhile, State Police Commissioner, Taiwo Jesubiyi visited the assembly and held a meeting with the Speaker on Friday.
Jesubiyi pledged to serve the people of the state and urged the lawmakers to promptly report any deficiencies they observe among the operatives deployed to the complex.
Dismissing the resignation letter, Oloyeloogun said in a personally signed statement that he remains the Speaker of the House.
Oloyeloogun further stressed that he had not discussed or contemplated resignation with any member of the Assembly or his family.
He urged the public to disregard the resignation letter and urged security agencies to investigate the “false and malicious document” that threatens the peace in the state.
“The purported letter of resignation, which is circulating, is the handiwork of fifth columnists who are intent on plunging Ondo State into anarchy, particularly within the House of Assembly,” he said.
“The purported resignation is no doubt the figment of the imagination of the peddlers of such heinous act as l did not contemplate or discussed such move with any member of the Assembly or family members.
“Let me tell members of the public that the purported letter of resignation did not emanate from me as it was forged by purveyors of such letter.
”The Clerk of the House, Mr. Benjamin Jaiyeola (ESQ)has informed me that he did not receive any letter of resignation which has given credence to the fact that the faceless writer is not informed of the process through which such a weighty exercise can take.”
He also affirmed the State House of Assembly’s commitment to supporting the police force.
The Ondo State House of Assembly is not new to crises, controversies, political manoeuvring and power struggle.
In 2016, the Speaker of the House, Jumoke Akindele, was impeached by 18 of the 26 members of the Assembly. The impeachment was reportedly motivated by a power struggle between Akindele and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
In 2020, nine members of the assembly were suspended after they refused to participate in the impeachment of the state’s former deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi, after he defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. Ajayi was Akeredolu’s deputy.
The Assembly was also ordered to pay each of the lawmakers N5 million for suspending them unlawfully.
