•Senator Rasidi Ladoja Photo: Sun News Publishing

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There was no let up in the crisis bedeviling the Oyo State House of Assembly on Tuesday, as its two factions of lawmakers appeared before the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee, laying claim to the leadership of the House while also pointing to a near impossibility of ever sitting together again as one united legislative house.

At an open session held at the Function Room of the Premier Hotel, the lawmakers, led by their separate leaders, painted different pictures of the causes of the crisis and a possible way out of it.

Why the G14, who were opposed to the impeachment of the state governor, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, alleged that external forces were behind the crisis in the House in their desperate bid to get at the governor, the G18 lawmakers, loyal to the self-acclaimed godfather of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu put the blame of the crisis at the doorsteps of the govenor, accusing him of undue interference in the affairs of the House.

Presenting their case earlier in the day, Speaker of the House, who also leads the G14, Hon. Adeolu Adeleke, accused his 18 other colleagues of working against the rule of law, the constitution of the land, as well as the wishes of the masses of the state, in active connivance with powerful external forces, who afforded them the use of the state police command.
Adeleke, who came with tapes, compact discs and other documents to buttress his point also took a swipe at the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Police, for allowing the 18 lawmakers to bring their agencies to disrepute with their criminal silence over the crisis.

“Ladoja was not impeached by 19 lawmakers and neither was it carried out by Chief Adedibu, but by the Nigerian Police. They carried out the impeachment. Oyo House has been used and it is still being used to destabilise the polity by some external forces in connivance with Nigeria Police,” Adeleke stated.
On the renewed hostilities by the 19 lawmakers, the embattled speaker alleged that it was an attempt to cover up the financial mess, the G18 lawmakers had committed while holding sway at the Assembly during the 11 months of the administration of the deputy-governor of the state, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala.

According to him, pro-Adedibu lawmakers had been sharing all the entitlements of their 13 colleagues and that the sum of N9 million was being shared every month as a general caucus allowance, while another N2 million was being given to a notable PDP chieftain in the state on monthly basis.
On the way out, the Speaker insisted that he remained the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly as declared by the highest court in the land adding that he did not see how far the committee could go alleging that his counterparts in the Assembly had taken blood oath.

Adeleke, therefore, offered that the only panacea to the lingering legislative crisis was for the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee to invoke Section 11 (4) of the 1999 constutition which affords the National Assembly the power to take over the legislative functions of a state Hoouse of Assembly when it could not perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in that state.
In their own submission, the G18 blamed the governor for his undue interference in the affairs of the House since it was inaugurated as well as lack of robust relationship between them and the governor as witnessed in other states of the federation.

Specifically, they disclosed that it took them a whole lot of energy and time before Governor Ladoja could award them constituency projects, furniture allowance and other benefits whereas his deputy, Akala gave them N10million each for constituency project within his short stay as governor of the state.

They equally accused the governor of imposing principal officers of the House, denying them free hand to operate as a state House of Assembly and also refused to compose boards of state parastatals.
Employing threats, blackmail and protests against the adhoc committee, the G18 lawmakers, however, described the efforts of House of Representatives as belated, saying they would never sit under the leadership of Adeleke. They even threatened to end their sitting with the federal lawmakers if they continued to refer to Adeleke as the Speaker of the House.

“We are not against joint sitting but the problem is this: Who will lead us into the House? Definitely not Adeolu Adeleke. The House is where the majority is. I want to be proved wrong. Twelve will always bow to figure 19. They have a problem, the figure is not on their side. If we go again together to that House, the first day, we will remove Adeleke. We are the majority”, one of the G18 lawmakers, Hon. Mufutau Ogunremi submitted.

The committee chairman, who also doubles as the Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Hon. Alex Nwofe, expressed his worry over the rigid positions maintained by the two sides of lawmakers, urging them to exercise caution as the nascent democracy was being threatened by the Oyo crisis.