. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo
The Deputy Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Akeem Balogun, has summoned members of the state legislature to an emergency executive session on Thursday (today) which many speculated may not be unconnected with the crisis the Speaker of the House is presently going through.
The sitting, according to impeccable sources, is scheduled to hold by 1:00pm inside the Assembly complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. However, information reaching us confirmed that the meeting failed to commence on schedule.
This is the first time the lawmakers would sit after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested and arraigned the Speaker, Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, for alleged N2.475billion money laundering and forgery, among others.
Oluomo was charged before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos alongside the Director of Finance at the House, Oladayo Samuel, and the Clerk, Taiwo Adeyemo.
After the defendants pleaded not guilty to the 11-count charge preferred against them, the court granted the trio bail and ordered that they be remanded in custody pending meeting bail conditions.
Amid the uncertainty generated by the Speaker’s ordeal, members of the 26-member legislature would meet Thursday afternoon to deliberate on what insiders described as “important matters.”
The last sitting of the Assembly was on August 11, 2022.
However, rival groups in the House, which are described as NATO and Putin teams, may be heading for a showdown at today’s meeting.
Those in the NATO team led by a former Deputy Speaker, Hon. Dare Kadiri, are believed to be opposed to the Speaker while Putin team members, led by Hon. Olakunle Sobukanla (APC Ikenne), are allegedly sympathetic to Oluomo.
Speculations about impeachment moves against the Speaker and alleged disappearance of the Assembly mace had been rife in recent days.
A lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, likened the unfolding developments in the House to what is happening on the global stage between some leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
“It was the Speaker himself who coined the terms; these perfectly depict what is really going on in the House,” he stated.
Another member of the House, who also wished to be anonymous, told our correspondent that the planned sitting “is not about impeachment of the Speaker.”
The legislator said, “It is an executive session, not a plenary session. The agenda has to do with issues bordering on the finances of the House and further briefings on the Speaker’s case. We have agreed on ceasefire.
“In the middle of a war, there must be time for a ceasefire. That’s what we want to do. But if there is no improvement on the finances of the House, we may resume hostilities.
“The Deputy Speaker will preside during the meeting. The law says in the anmbsence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker acts. So, we have not breached the law with all we are doing.”
