Posted by By MOSHOOD ADEBAYO, Abeokuta on
Government activities were paralyzed yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital as news of the impeachment of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Titi Oseni filtered into town.
Government activities were paralyzed yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital as news of the impeachment of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Titi Oseni filtered into town.
Oseni who was impeached along with his deputy, Hon. Ayo Odugbesan was accused of high-handedness, incompetence, maladministration and corruption, among other allegations.
The impeachment exercise was carried by 22 out of the 26-member legislature. All the 26 lawmakers are members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The impeachment was the first of its kind in the history of the state created by the military administration of the late Murtala Muhammed on February 3, 1976.
The sack was like a storm with the leadership of the PDP apparently taken unawares as both the state Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Hon. Oseni were not in Abeokuta when it happened.
The speaker was said to have travelled to Abuja on official assignment, while the governor who in the past few weeks had been involved in the burial arrangements of his mother was said to have travelled outside the country.
The motion for the impeachment was moved by Hon. Michael Sowedo from the Ado-Igbesa State Constituency and seconded by Hon. Boye Olusola Ajayi.
After the impeachment which held between 9.00a.m. and 10a.m.was successfully carried out, the lawmakers elected Hon. Samson Tunji Egbatokun, from Obafemi-Owode state constituency as the acting speaker.
Sources close to the Assembly told Daily Sun that as soon as sitting began, the aggrieved members who were said to have levelled allegations against the speaker seized the mace and forced the Deputy Speaker, Odugbesan to step down.
A legislator who spoke with Daily Sun on condition of anonymity confirmed the impeachment.
His words: 'Oseni is gone for good. She is a bad leader who should not have been entrusted with such a position. She was impeached for maladministration, incompetence, abuse of office and high-handedness, among other serious allegations which will be revealed in the next few days."
But in a swift reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Wale Adedayo told reporters that 'everything is in the realm of speculation. To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware that the House sat today (yesterday)."
Oseni who was also contacted on phone by journalists said: ‘There is nothing to say. I am in Abuja for an official assignment."
The Speaker's Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ayo Giwa, in a release stated that the Assembly did not sit on Thursday 'therefore the issue of removal or non-removal of the Speaker could not have arisen."
Giwa insisted that Oseni, who is the legal authority to convene a sitting of the House, was on official assignment in Abuja, and she remains the Speaker. 'Nothing has changed," he stressed.
Already armed mobile policemen have taken over the Assembly complex with the security agents seen at about 2.30p.m. guarding the premises.
The development has forced the leadership of the party to convene an emergency meeting with leaders across the three senatorial districts attending.