- As lawmakers go into hiding
The fallout of Thursday protest at the Ondo State House of Assembly along Igbatoro road in Akure, the state capital has landed seven youths at the Olokuta Medium Prison.
They were nabbed by security operatives during the protest for allegedly attacking the convoy of the state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko.
Mimiko attempted to enter the Assembly with lawmakers loyal to him to present the 2017 budget.
The youths, who were arraigned at Akure Magistrate court at Oke-Eda were Tunde Alabi (28), Abiola Eniola (27), Yusuf Muhammed (25), Olanrewaju Olomolotan (40), Adeniyi Michael (30), Samson Omodara (20) and Ijalade Oluwaseun(27).
Since last week Friday, the Assembly have been enmenshed with crisis following the removal of Hon. Jumoke Akindele and other principal officers by 14 lawmakers over alleged N15million fraud.
The aggrieved lawmakers, immediately appointed Hon. Malachi Coker as the acting speaker, Hon. Ayodele Arowele deputy and Hon. George Olamide as the Majority.
Despite her impeachment, Akindele and other embattled principal officers have been laying claim to the leadership of the house.
But since on Monday, Coker’s faction had been hoding their plenary sessions at the Assembly Complex.
While the warring lawmakers are struggling over whose faction is the authentic, some youths have taken over the entrance of the Assembly since on Sunday protesting against Mimiko decision to present the 2017 budget and some bills few days to the end of his tenure.
The protest went out of hand on Thursday, when they were alleged to have blocked the road and also attack the convoy of Mimiko.
Those arrested during the protest were charged with four count charges: felony, public disturbance, unlawful assemble and public damage.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Martins Olowofeso told the court that the accused persons have committed punishable offence under section 219 of the criminal code cap 36 laws of the Ondo state of Nigeria.
Inspector Olowofeso however prayed the court to remand them at Olokuta prison for enable him to further investigate the case and brought other suspect to court saying there are still other people now at large.
But counsel to the seven accused persons, Mr. Femi Adetoye urged the court to grant them bail on most liberal term, saying that the offences committed were bail able one.
Adetoye also said that his clients would not jump bail and they are ready to provide reliable sureties if bail granted to them.
In her ruling, the presiding magistrate Victoria Bob-Manuel ordered the seven accused persons to be remanded at Olokuta prison custody and adjourned the case till 22nd February, 2017 for mention.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph confirmed that the Assembly has been sealed off again.
He said the police is ready to reopen the Assembly if the lawmakers are ready to bury their grievances and assure that their won’t be a break down of law and order.
However, sources informed The Nation that legislators loyal to Coker’s camp may have gone into hiding over alleged threat to their lives.
It was gathered that the lawmakers, whose eight of them are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while five are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been receiving some strange calls since they carried out the impeachment process of Akindele.
The spokesman of the group, Hon. Ogundeji Iroju who spoke with The Nation on phone said their faction is not against Mimiko presenting the budget but only against the claim of Akindele that she is still the speaker despite she has been removed.
Iroju said “the whole genesis of the Assembly crisis is the alleged fraud of N15million levelled against Akindele and that was what led to her impeachment for a second term.
“You will recollect that Akindele has earlier been impeached 10 months ago before governor Mimiko appealed to us to stop the impeachment with the intention then that she will turn a new leave.
“This time around, we have elected another speaker, deputy and majority leader to replace the former principal officers of the house.
“On Monday, we got an information that governor Mimiko will be coming to the house on Wednesday to come and present his 2017 appropriation bill and as early as possible, we have arrived the Assembly waiting patiently for Mimiko because that is one of our constitutional duty to accept appropration bill from the governor and give the bill accelerated passage.
“But eventually, we waited for the governor but he did not come and what the law says is that only the quorum of the members can sit at any giving time at the Assembly and the quorum of 26 members is nine. The members that sat were even more than the needed quorum. We were 13 in number.
“We found out later the reason why the governor did not come to present his budget, we were told that he has another emergency meeting in Abuja. We are waiting for Mimiko to come and present his budget because we know that if the budget is pass into law, it will have great positive impact on the lives of the masses.”
When he was asked if they have made an attempt to discuss with the governor on why the sacked Akindele since they are all members of the same party, Iroju said “this is purely House of Assembly affairs not a party issue.
“We are defending the mandate of the people and not about the party because the people that voted for us are not only PDP members.
“This is a legislative issue and nobody can impose a speaker on us. We are only worried why the governor is insisting that Akindele should continue as the speaker despite the allegation levelled against her.”
The spokesman of Akindele’s faction. Hon. Siji Akindiose from Ondo East state constituency only said their faction have decided not to go public on the issue anymore.
Akindiose said he believes that it is an Assembly affair and the matter should be resolved amicably among the lawmakers.
But in his previous interviews, the lawmaker had once said the money caught with the paymaster by their colleagues was meant for a project.
He exonerated the embattled speaker from the allegations and also said the lawmakers, who carried the impeachment process failed to meet up the required constitutional numbers of lawmaker that must sit to impeach a speaker.
Meanwhile, a former Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi has cautioned the governor against interfering in the affairs of the Assembly.
Olanusi spoke with reporters, shortly after he was honoured as the grand patron of Road Transport Employers of Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) at is residence in Akure.
The octogenarian, who was impeached by the same lawmakers in 2015 after defecting from the PDP to APC asked Mimiko to recognise Coker’s faction.
He urged the governor to emulate what President Muhammadu Buhari did when Bukola Saraki and Dogora were elected by the senators and lawmakers as their Senate President and speaker despite the stand of APC.
“Nothing concern Mimiko with change of principal officers at the Assembly. Though I don’t blame him, the incumbent governor has been Commissioner, SSG and minister without being elected as a lawmaker.
“So, he did not know how the House operates, whether at the state and national level.
“Nothing concern him about principal officers of the house. It is the responsibility of the members to pick one of them as their speaker.”
The former deputy governor wondered why the governor refused not to present the budget despite the lawmakers at the house on Wednesday formed a quorum.
Olanusi recalled that there was a time when the same governor presented a budget to less than 10 lawmakers at the Assembly and urged the people to ask Mimiko why he failed to present his budget?.
