Twenty one members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have issued an ultimatum to the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, demanding his resignation over allegations of corruption or face impeachment.
According to a report by Premium Times, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Olatunji Fabiyi, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday in Akure, although the newspaper said it could not independently verify the allegations at the time of filing its report.
The lawmakers accused Oladiji of collecting ₦44 million from the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) on their behalf without distributing the money among members of the legislature.
The Speaker, however, denied the allegation, describing it as false and politically motivated.
Despite the denial, 21 of the 26 members of the Assembly reportedly vowed to proceed with his removal if he failed to resign at the expiration of the ultimatum.
With the figure, the lawmakers have secured the statutory two thirds majority required to remove the Speaker from office.
Fabiyi said the lawmakers had signed an impeachment notice against Oladiji but resolved to give him additional time to resign voluntarily.
He warned that failure to resign at the expiration of the ultimatum would lead to his removal during the next plenary session.
The lawmaker dismissed insinuations that the move was being sponsored by the executive, saying the leadership of the House had briefed Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on the development.
He maintained that the crisis was an internal matter caused by the Speaker’s alleged misconduct.
Explaining the allegations, Fabiyi said the crisis was triggered by the handling of the OSOPADEC budget reordering.
He alleged that a resolution was fraudulently written in the name of members without their knowledge or approval, describing the action as a criminal offence.
“It is about the OSOPADEC budget. A resolution was written in the name of members without our knowledge. It was stated that members had sat down and agreed to it and that it was our resolution, which it was not,” Fabiyi said.
He said the governor had intervened and requested time for the matter to be resolved amicably, but lawmakers remained determined to remove the Speaker.
Earlier, a member of the Assembly representing Ilaje Constituency II, Olawumi Fayemi Obayelu, alleged that her life had been threatened over her efforts to investigate the Speaker in connection with the alleged ₦44 million scandal.
She accused Oladiji of attempting to intimidate and silence her following her investigation into the alleged diversion of funds meant for the development of riverine communities in Ilaje Local Government Area.
The Speaker dismissed the allegations as “sensational, malicious and entirely fabricated.”
Oladiji also denied having any knowledge of an impeachment notice or a leadership crisis within the Assembly.
In a statement issued by his office on Tuesday, the Speaker rejected calls for his resignation, saying he had no intention of stepping down.
The statement described reports of a leadership crisis as false and politically motivated, insisting that the claims were aimed at destabilising the legislative arm of government.
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