Posted by By BOLU-OLU ESHO, Ado-Ekiti on
Speaker of Ekiti House of Assembly, Femi Bamisile, was on Tuesday impeached in a controversial circumstance.
Speaker of Ekiti House of Assembly, Femi Bamisile, was on Tuesday impeached in a controversial circumstance. The drama leading to the ouster of Bamishile began immediately Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, representing Ikere Constituency 1 served the clerk of the House notice of vote of no confidence on the speaker.
Tension had enveloped the House as early as 9:00a.m when the speaker ordered some people out of the hallowed chamber of the House and left about ten young men, an action which was rebuffed by his deputy. This led to a shouting match as the deputy speaker issued a counter order for everyone to enter if the ten young men were not going to be sent out.
People were seen in groups discussing the possibility of the impeachment of the speaker if the legislators had plenary session. This speculation came to pass around 2:00p.m when the legislators converged on the hallowed chamber for plenary session.
After saying the prayer, the speaker called the Leader of Business, Layi Oke, to read the Order of Business for the day, but Hon Funminiyi Afuye raised his hand for point of order and after being recognized by the speaker, brandished a paper entitled: Vote of no convidence in; removal and impeachment of Hon. Olawale Olufemi Bamisile as speaker of the Ekiti House Of Assembly, which he went ahead to submit to the clerk of the House.
In the paper, Bamisile was accused of sundry charges among which were that 'there have been recent damning reports in the press alleging that Bamisile stole 19 fire extinguishers when he was a student of OAU, Ile-Ife; that a committee set up in the House indicted Bamisile on the issue and sundry matters that touched on the integrity of the speaker; that he cheated during examination as student of OAU, Ile-Ife bringing prepared answer script into the exam room and thereby dismissed by the university.
'The House, thereby, resolved that 'a prima facie case has been established against Bamisile. In order to protect the integrity of the House and the good people of the state, we the undersigned members of the House now resolve and be resolved that a vote of no confidence is hereby passed on the Hon. Femi Bamisile as the speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly. He is hereby removed as the speaker of Ekiti House of Assembly."
Hon Bisi Kolawole, representing Efon Constituency objected to the manner of the paper presentation, saying it was not in the order paper, and thereby should not be treated
This was seconded by Michael Ayodele, from Oye Constituency, who said the speaker should ignore Afuye's call for vote of no confidence.
Speaking with newsmen after the exercise, the new speaker, Tunji Odeyemi, dispelled the fear that the impeachment was targeted at Governor Segun Oni, promising the House would witness peace, justice and fair play, transparency and progressive legislation.
According to him: 'I won't attribute my appointment to any flaw, we complied with the standing order of the House. Two-third of the House signed the impeachment notice. I can assure that the event of today has got nothing to do with making trouble with the executive. We love the governor and we will coorperate with his government. Before long, there won't be negative story about Ekiti State and the House."
In a telephone conversation, Hon Femi Bamisile said he still remained the speaker of the House.
In his words: 'It goes to show that we have baby legislators in Ekiti, who does not understand the rules of legislation. The only person who has the right to serve impeachment notice is the Leader of Business, unfortunately, it was served by somebody who claimed to be a lawyer.
'The impeachment is thereby null and void. Without element of doubt, I remain the speaker. The notice was not yet put to vote. Ekiti people should remain cool and calm. All is well."