Ondo lawmakers allege assembly held only four plenary sittings in seven months

By Boye Oyeyemi

The crisis rocking the Ondo State House of Assembly deepened on Monday as some lawmakers alleged that the assembly had held only four plenary sittings in the last seven months under the leadership of the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji.

The lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed the sparse sittings had hampered legislative activities and raised concerns over compliance with constitutional provisions requiring state legislatures to sit for at least 181 days annually.

The development comes amid moves by some members to remove the speaker over allegations bordering on the unilateral reordering of the N9.2 billion Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission budget and the alleged mismanagement of N44 million.

One of the lawmakers accused the speaker of deliberately delaying plenary sessions whenever disagreements arose among members, alleging that the assembly had remained inactive for weeks on several occasions. The lawmaker also claimed the speaker’s foreign trips worsened the situation.

The legislator said, “We have had only four plenary sittings since January. We are not on recess, yet the house has hardly sat. Whenever there are disagreements, the speaker delays plenary until tensions subside before reconvening the house.”

Another member also alleged that legislative activities were repeatedly disrupted towards the end of last year, insisting that disagreements among lawmakers often resulted in prolonged suspension of plenary sessions.

Reacting, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Constitution, Olatunji Fabiyi, said only the speaker had the authority to convene plenary sittings, while parliamentary meetings could be called by the majority leader. He disclosed that members recently met with the speaker and advised him to resign, claiming he had lost the confidence of the majority.

Responding to the allegations, Oladiji dismissed the claims as unfounded, insisting that parliamentary meetings were statutory and as significant as plenary sittings. He challenged his accusers to provide evidence, adding that the volume of legislative business largely depended on bills transmitted to the assembly by the executive arm of government.