Nigeria Content Online

More revelations are coming to the fore on why the former
Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Taofiq Abdulsalam; his deputy,
Mayowa Akinfolarin, and other officers of the Assembly were impeached by their
colleagues two weeks ago.

The former chairman, House Committee on Information at the
Assembly, Igbekele Bolodeoku, who was guest on a television programme in Akure
on Monday, said the agreement to change the House leadership was reached at the
parliamentary session of the House.

Mr. Bolodeoku, a PDP lawmaker representing Ese-Odo constituency,
said six PDP lawmakers signed the impeachment notice before three laterbacked
out.

He said the failure of the PDP group to carry out the
impeachment was a precursor to a parliamentary meeting where the decision to
sack him was taken.

According to him, having got the signatures of 18 members, the
lawmakers decided to remove the Speaker for ineptitude and non- display of the
intelligentsia and dexterity expected of him in the handling of the House
affairs.

“It was not a PDP affair, PDP caucus alone cannot impeach the
former Speaker,” he said. “We are not enough. We have to carry everybody along.
Remember, Labour Party is intact and I addressed them in my capacity as the
House spokesman on the matter.”

He also refuted claims by PDP lawmakers that their signatures
were forged to make the impeachment exercise possible.

“During the meeting, I got signatures of seven PDP members,” he
said. “The forgery allegation is a funny story. One of them, that is Fatai
Adams Adekanye, signed it, contested for the Speaker that same morning, got six
votes, but he didn’t get to the post.”

He absolved the state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, of involvement
in the impeachment saga, saying that the former Speaker would have been
impeached eight months ago, but for the governor’s intervention.

“The governor was not involved in the impeachment, and we must
clear that. I don’t see reason for his involvement. Let me tell you, Hon.
Taofeek would have gone eight months ago, but the governor prevailed on some LP
members who refused to sign. Taofeek is doing business with the governor and
pretending to be a PDP member. I know long time ago that the chick will soon
come home to roost,” he said.

Guilty of ineptitudeness

Meanwhile, a Labour Party lawmaker in the Assembly, Olatunji
Dairo, also urged the new leadership to withdraw the official vehicles of some
legislators who refused to join their colleagues for legislation, since the
impeachment of the former Speaker, Taofiq Abdulsalam.

Some parliamentarians, under the aegis of ‘G11′, have reportedly
shunned the proceedings since penultimate Thursday because of the new
development at the Assembly.

Speaking to reporters in Akure, the state capital, Mr. Dairo,
who represents Owo Constituency II, said nobody was voted to be a Speaker when
vying for a seat at the Assembly.

“We are elected to represent our people here, even some of those
aggrieved lawmakers were not voted legitimately by the people. They rigged
elections to secure their seats”, Dairo said.

According to him, the new leadership under Samuel Adesina should
force the absentee lawmakers to drop their official cars.

He described the recent impeachment as a beautiful development.

“We effected a change with Bakita Bello after two years, and now we decided
to change the former leadership under Abdulsalam because of its ineptitude,” he
said.