Ondo Assembly crisis deepens as lawmakers allege only four plenary sittings in seven months

The crisis in the Ondo State House of Assembly has escalated, with 21 of the 26 lawmakers alleging that the House held only four plenary sittings in the past seven months under the leadership of Speaker Olamide Oladiji.

 

The aggrieved lawmakers, who have already initiated impeachment proceedings against the Speaker over the alleged diversion of ₦44 million linked to the reordering of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) budget, also announced the indefinite suspension of plenary sessions.

 

They insisted that legislative activities would remain suspended until Oladiji voluntarily resigns from office.

 

Speaking anonymously, one of the lawmakers accused the Speaker of deliberately avoiding plenary sessions whenever disagreements arose within the Assembly.

 

“We have had only four plenary sittings since January. We are not on recess, yet the House has hardly sat. Whenever he notices there are issues, he will not call plenary. He waits until the tension dies down before calling the House to sit, sometimes after a month,” the lawmaker said.

 

The legislator further alleged that the Speaker’s frequent absence and failure to convene sittings had hindered the Assembly from carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.

 

Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Olatunji Fabiyi, confirmed the infrequency of plenary sessions, describing the situation as detrimental to legislative business.

 

According to him, although parliamentary meetings can be convened by the Majority Leader, only the Speaker has the authority to summon plenary sessions.

 

Fabiyi disclosed that the Assembly leadership recently met with Oladiji and advised him to resign in order to avoid further damage to his political career.

 

“We told him categorically that he no longer enjoys the confidence of members and advised him to resign voluntarily,” he said.

 

Responding to the allegations, Speaker Oladiji dismissed the claims as baseless, maintaining that parliamentary meetings are statutory and carry the same significance as plenary sittings.

 

He argued that the absence of plenary sessions does not mean the Assembly had ceased performing its oversight responsibilities or conducting legislative business.

 

“At times, we might not have plenary sitting, but we have parliamentary sitting. Parliamentary sitting is as important as plenary sitting. If we don’t have plenary, it does not mean we don’t come to the office or perform our oversight functions. The allegations against me are baseless,” the Speaker said.