UPDATE: Information from sources closely monitoring the events at the state house of assembly in Ondo State reveals that there was no election and hence no new speaker.
“A group of 13 lawmakers gathered and claimed that they had elected a new speaker,” a source, who didn’t wish to be named told The Trent.
“They are a minority group in the house and hence, cannot elect a new speaker. Please disregard that report. They are being mischievous,” the source said.
There are 26 members of the state legislative body. There used to be 21 PDP members and 5 APC members. Following the guber election in which the APC candidate, the current governor, Rotimi Akeredolu won, some members decamped from the PDP and joined the APC. Today, there are 13 PDP lawmakers in the house.
The first ever female speaker of the Ondo House of Assembly, Jumoke Akindele, resigned in March, 2017. She resigned along with all the principal officers of the house citing “change in the geopolitical permutation in the state”.
Before then, the house had been rocked by crisis instigated by the All Progressives Congress, APC to frustrate the last days of immediate past governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
PREVIOUSLY: The Ondo State House of Assembly on Monday, April 3, 2017 elected the lawmaker representing Ifedore Constituency, Bamidele Oloyelogun, as its new speaker, The Herald reports.
A factional group of lawmakers boycotted the poll which saw Oloyelogun beating his rival, Olamide George from Akure North Constituency ‘1′, with nine votes.
George got 4 votes in a process that has been described as “shady“.
The election was conducted by the thirteen lawmakers who ganged up and said they had ousted and suspended former speaker, Jumoke Akindele.
Also the election, saw Ogundeji Iroju, from Odigbo Constituency emerging as the new deputy speaker, unopposed.
Ogundeji was the former spokesman of the ‘rebel’ lawmakers opposed to the immediate past speaker.
