The speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Barr. Adesina Michael Adeyemo may be luck as attempt by majority of the members of the Assembly to impeach him was aborted in the final minutes.
Inside Oyo learnt that members of the Assembly are not happy with the leadership style of the speaker, who is a two-term member.
According to sources, “the speaker takes care of his own interest alone. When his interest is taken care, he forgets his colleagues.”
Twenty-three of the lawmakers were said to have signed the impeachment notice.
The recent inauguration of some chairmanship nominees, who the lawmakers had declared unfit to chair their various councils, by Governor Abiola Ajimobi opened the old wound.
The lawmaker had invited top government officials for questioning over their roles in the inauguration of the ‘unappointable’ chairmanship nominees by the governor. The ethics and privileges committee, it was gathered, was given two weeks to submit its findings and recommendation.
Yesterday, when the report was supposed to be read, many people had arrived the Assembly Complex early morning, to witness the presentation of the committee’s report. They were, however, disappointed when the House adjourned sitting to tomorrow, Thursday 27th April,2017, without reading the report.
Sources disclosed that the report had been scheduled for yesterday only for it to be removed few hours to the sitting, from the order paper. The reason, sources said, was that some vital parts of the report might have been doctored and majority of the members were battle ready to challenge the leadership of the House on why some parts were removed.
Inside Oyo learnt further that the trio of the secretary to the state government, Alhaji Alli Olalekan, commissioner for local government and chieftaincy matters, Hon. Bimbo Kolade and permanent secretary in the ministry, Mrs Olawumi Ogunesan denied involvement in the inauguration of the ‘unappointable’ nominees. Sources say they dismissed the pictorial and visual evidences laid before them during investigation, describing them as media hype.
Sources told Inside Oyo that plan to nail the speaker had been carefully hatched, but members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who were part of the plot, did not agree on who takes the deputy-speaker’s slot.
Sources said that the APC legislators had suggested that the only way the leadership of the party will not be angry with them if they sack the speaker was to cede the speakership and deputy-speakership position to them.
Four APC lawmakers, sources confided in this medium, had shown interest in the number two position. They later settled for one of the Christian lawmakers who hails from the state capital.
Few hours to the sitting, one of the lawmakers who was a strong members of the ‘plotters’, and a Muslim, was said to have notified his colleagues that he would not allow the man who had been pencilled down for the number two to take the slot, that he too deserved it.
Two other members later notified the members of their intention to back out from the plan, reducing the ‘plotters’ to 20.
At yesterday’s plenary, plain-cloth security operatives were stationed in strategic places, though unknown to many people.
After the sitting, one of the lawmakers, who is a leading voice in the House was overheard saying: ”I am weak. My spirit has been weakened.”
