One year after his removal, the immediate past speaker of the Ogun State Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, on Thursday, returned to the assembly, DAILY POST reports......CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>.....CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Recall that Oluomo was removed by 18 out of 26 members over allegations of gross misconduct, highhandedness, lack of focus and transparency, financial misappropriation, and pursuit of selfish interests.
Following this, Oludaisi Elemide was sworn in as the new Assembly speaker on January 30, 2024.
Since his removal, our correspondent gathered that the former speaker had never visited the Assembly nor attended any plenary or sitting.
However, on Thursday, Oluomo, who represents the Ifo I constituency, was seen driving into the Assembly Complex in Okemosan, Abeokuta, and leaving shortly after.
It was gathered that the court case between the Assembly and the former speaker, in relation to the change of leadership, had been determined on Tuesday.
However, Elemide maintained that the former speaker had not contravened any law by absenting himself from the assembly’s plenaries and sittings.
He spoke while fielding questions from newsmen on the achievements of the 10th Assembly since the change of its leadership and one year in office.
Elemide disclosed that Oluomo returned to the Assembly to join other colleague-lawmakers to continue representing his constituency.
He said, “Yes, the immediate past speaker was here today. Our calendar is not the type you have outside; our calendar begins on the day we have our first sitting, and that was on June 20th, 2023. So from then to June 20th, 2024, is the first year. The second year would terminate in June 2025. Now, the constitution says that we should sit for 181 days, both plenary and oversight.
“Yes, we have a minimum, but he has not contravened that because it is not yet a year. And I want you to know that if you send in an excuse, it’s as good as you being here, but he has not contravened any law.”
Elemide, while justifying the past speaker’s reason for absence, said the case in relation to the change of leadership was in court.
“The main reason behind maybe his not coming frequently, as people say, or not coming at all, is because of the case in court.
“If I am still challenging a system and I now go and sit or act on that system, tactically, I have agreed that the system is right.
“So he took his time until the case was determined, and the case was determined on Tuesday, and today is supposed to be our next sitting, and he’s around. So legally, has he committed an offense?” he asked.