Ondo Assembly Reinstates Four Suspended Lawmakers
The Ondo State House of Assembly, on Monday, lifted the suspension order placed on four members of the House.
The affected members are the former Deputy Speaker, Iroju Ogundeji; and three other members — Adewale Williams, Favour Tomomewo, and Tomide Akinrinbido.
The four legislators, who were among the nine lawmakers that opposed the impeachment notice of the state deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi in June, were suspended for alleged gross misconduct.
Following the action against them by the Assembly, the four lawmakers approached the court and got favoured judgement from both the High Court and Court of Appeal, ordering their reinstatement but the House allegedly failed to obey the court orders. To this end, the court issued Forms 48 and 49 on the speaker and three members of the Assembly last week for committing contempt of court. The court also summoned the House leaders to appear before it next Thursday on the matter.
It was gathered that the House finally reversed the suspension in order to avoid being punished by the court for disobedience to its order.
Speaking at plenary on Monday, the Speaker of the House, Bamidele Oleyelogun, explained that the four suspended lawmakers were axed in line with the provisions of the rules and standing orders of the House at the parliamentary sitting and ratified at the plenary.
He maintained that the House was not served with the court judgement to reverse the suspension order until recently.
Oloyeloogun, however, announced that the indefinite suspension order placed on the four lawmakers be lifted to allow them perform their legislative functions as members of the Ondo State House of Assembly.
He said, “Surprisingly, the House was not served with these judgements until recently. But because their suspension was done at plenary, the House based on its regulatory proceedings had to consider the judgement at its parliamentary where a resolution to seek the advice of the Judiciary and Legal Committee on the court judgement was reached.
“The House Committee on Judiciary and the Legal Department had advised that the House should obey the judgement for peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship between the judiciary and the legislature.”
