Suspected ritualists reportedly stormed the official residence of the Ondo State House of Assembly Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, with fetish items on Monday.
The bizarre incident happened amid the alleged moves to impeach and remove Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa from office, a report by DAILY TRUST said.
On Monday, the saga took a new turn as a fetish item was sighted at the entrance of the official residential lodge of the Speaker, Rt (Hon) Olamide Oladiji, located beside the Alagbaka Government house in the early hours of Monday by motorists and passers-by.
Several sources who spoke to our reporter disclosed that the suspected ritualists must have been loyalists of the deputy governor, who were against his impeachment and removal moves by the lawmakers of the Assembly.
Efforts to reach the Assembly Speaker, Mr Oladiji, to comment proved abortive as his official line was not connecting.
However, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami, said the command was not aware of the fetish item.
“No official report was made either by the Speaker or any of the lawmakers at the command,” Odunlami told Daily Trust.
Meanwhile, the Ondo Redemption Front (ORF), has kicked against the impeachment and removal process against Aiyedatiwa, saying the move by the Assembly members was not in the best interest of the people of the state.
Addressing journalists at a news conference in Akure, the Chairman of the group, Ayodeji Ologun, explained that the impeachment move against the deputy governor will plunge the state into political crisis and instability.
Mr Ologun specifically noted that the Assembly members have not been helping matters in the state since the return of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to the country after his three-month medical vacation.
“While Mr Akeredolu returned to the country, for over two weeks he returned to Nigeria in a controversial manner, he has not been sighted in the state rather, also, worthy of mention is the fact that since the return of Mr Akeredolu and his refusal to resume at his official duty -post for the governance of the state, a situation that is causing serious apprehension in the state, the State House of Assembly has not been helping matters.
“The Ondo State House of Assembly has decided to add salt to injury by instigating violence, and anarchy and orchestrating break down of law and order by embarking on an unjustified and unwarranted process of impeachment of the Deputy Governor Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa at the expense of the peace, stability and the welfare of the people of Ondo State.
“As a group, we strongly believe that politics should be the least of the worries of the political class in Ondo state at the moment but delivery of good governance in the overriding interest of the people of the state. Our people has been cheated over time with no progressive impact on their daily life.
“We are not unaware that this is not about accountability as the House wants us to believe but a vendetta by a class of crass opportunists who have unfettered access to the resources of the state occasioned by the incapacity of the Governor.
“In view of the above stated and the contemplation of section 11(1)(4)(5) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, we hereby implore The National Assembly to call the Ondo State House of Assembly to order in the overriding interest of the people of the state and the country at large,” he said.
In the meantime, the Ondo State House of Assembly has finally served the Deputy Governor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, with his impeachment notice.
The letter, dated September 20, 2023, written and signed by the Speaker of the assembly, Mr Oladiji Olamide Adesanmi, and made available to The PUNCH on Monday, was received, signed, and stamped by the office of the deputy governor today, Monday, September 25, 2023.
PUNCH had earlier reported that the embattled deputy governor had claimed that he had not been served with the alleged notice of gross misconduct by the Ondo State House of Assembly.
PUNCH also reported that the state legislature had begun the impeachment process of the state deputy governor over alleged gross misconduct on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
In the letter, titled ‘Notice of Allegation of Gross Misconduct Against Honourable Lucky Orimisin Aiyedatiwa, Deputy Governor, Ondo State’, and signed by 11 lawmakers, Aiyedatiwa was accused of “Gross misconduct, abuse of office with actions likely to bring down Ondo State Government, financial recklessness, publication in print media by your media aides maligning the credibility of the Governor, etc”.
However, the letter also stated that the deputy governor responds to the allegations levelled against him, under the provision of Section 188 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended).
The House had alleged that the embattled deputy governor was involved in some act of gross misconduct while in office as the acting governor.
Aiyedatiwa acted as governor while Governor Rotimi Akeredolu went abroad for medical treatment. He acted between June 13 and September 9 when the governor returned.
