On Tuesday, the Ogun State House of Assembly swore in Hon. Oludaisi Elemide as the new Speaker of the House.
Elemide, representing Odeda State Constituency, is a third-time lawmaker in the Assembly.
His emergence followed the impeachment of Hon. Olakunle Oluomo on January 23 as the Speaker of the Assembly.
Recall that 18 out of 26 lawmakers signed the impeachment notice of the erstwhile Speaker on allegations of high handedness, lack of focus, and financial misappropriation, among others.
In the same vein, the Assembly ratified the impeachment of Oluomo, representing Ifo 11, as the speaker, with all 22 members present at plenary, voted in support of the impeachment.
The report of a committee set up by the House to investigate Oluomo was read by Hon. Musefiu Lamidi at a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon.Bolanle Ajayi.
He explained that on the floor of the House, the committee made it clear to the former speaker that it was not on a witch-hunting mission but for a fair hearing on allegations levelled against him.
Lamidi said, ” The speaker said some of the committee members do not have the right to be members of the committee to investigate him since they were among the 18 members who originally signed the impeachment notice.
” Having observed that the committee turned down his request, he walked out on the committee to avoid responding to further questions from the committee.
” The committee observed that the attitude of the speaker shows that he has no regard for the committee and, by extension, the House of Assembly.
” His attitude is a clear admission of the allegations contained in the impeachment notice served on him
which includes financial impropriety, high handedness, and lack of focus, among others,” he said.
Lamidi, however, said that the committee found him guilty of all allegations levelled against him and consequently recommended that he be impeached.
He later moved the motion for the adoption of the report, which was seconded by Oluseun Adesanya, representing Ijebu North East State Constituency.
The deputy speaker threw the resolution back to the House, and the 22 members in attendance affirmed the removal of Oluomo as speaker through a majority vote.
” With the majority vote of 22 members, I hereby confirm that Oluomo stands impeached and removed as the speaker of the Ogun House of Assembly,” she said.
Thereafter, Hon Adegoke Adeyanju representing Yewa North 1, nominated Oludaisi Elemide as the new speaker and was seconded by Adeniran Ademola, representing Sagamu State Constituency 11.
Elemide took the oath of office and was officially sworn in to replace the impeached speaker.
The new speaker promised inclusive leadership, urging the members to see themselves as one and work in unity for the progress of the state.
Earlier, the deputy speaker had read a letter of impeachment notice served to Oluomo, which was signed by 25 members out of the 26 House of Assembly members.
Meanwhile, Oluomo has debunked the report by the seven-man panel of the State House of Assembly that he staged a walkout during his appearance before the ad hoc Committee of the House.
He stated that he honoured the invitation of the House panel due to the respect he has for the legislature as an arm of government.
“An invite to appear before a panel was received in my office around 10.45 am but got to me at exactly 11.30 am, and I was asked to appear by 3 pm (same day). I took off and got there even before the stipulated time because I have much regard for the legislature, especially as a lawmaker myself.”
“When the sitting began and I was asked to respond to some allegations, I simply told them it would be prejudicial to talk about a matter that is already before the court,” he said.
Oluomo pointed out that he had to remind the honourable members of relevant sections of the constitution and Assembly rules, which negated the timing and detailing of the allegations as well as the composition of the panel.
“I quoted at the sitting that section 36 (6) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended emphasised the giving of details and enough time for response, as well as order two, rule 9 (vii) of the Harmonised Standing Orders of the Houses of Assembly, which forbids any member that is a signatory to the notice of impeachment from being a member of the Committee since one cannot be a judge in his own case.
” When the chairman insisted on reading the allegations to me, I told him that the law says the allegations should be in writing and I should be given ample time to respond.”
“After my submissions, I got the permission of the committee to take a bow and leave.”
According to him, “I look forward to our party (APC) and the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who is a respecter of the law, taking appropriate action on the continuous illegality being done in the Assembly chambers.”