The Ondo state house of assembly says it will not hold a plenary until Olamide Oladiji, the speaker, resigns over the alleged diversion of N44 million released by the Ondo State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC).
Oladiji is facing impeachment after 21 of the 26 lawmakers signed a notice for his removal over allegations bordering on financial mismanagement.
Some of the lawmakers accused the speaker of failing to carry members along in the disbursement of the money, which was said to be for the reordering of the OSOPADEC 2026 budget.
The development has fuelled discontent within the assembly in the past few days.
Speaking with NAN in Akure on Monday, Olatunji Ifabiyi, spokesperson of the assembly, said the lawmakers had resolved not to hold plenary until a new speaker is elected.
“We have resolved not to hold plenary until there is a change of Speaker,” Ifabiyi said.
“For now, there is no development except that Mr Speaker should just give way and allow another person to preside over the Ondo State House of Assembly.
“If he doesn’t resign, we will impeach him. If he fails to do the needful, we will do the needful.”
Meanwhile, a principal officer of the assembly, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the state executive called a meeting on Sunday to resolve the crisis.
“There was a peace broker yesterday (Sunday) with the executive and we are not permitted to disclose details of the outcome of the meeting,” the official said.
“I don’t want to be the first to breach the agreement. But I can tell you that the matter has been resolved, but I will not tell you if it was in favour of anybody.
“We implored internal mechanisms to address the agitations in the House of Assembly, and we are going to hold a plenary soon.”
However, the assembly spokesperson said he was not aware of any peace meeting, adding that he did not know when the next plenary would hold.
He also said the allegation of an assassination attempt on a member of the assembly had been reported to the appropriate authorities for investigation.
