By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Legit.ng
Published on 2024-01-24 08:33:53
The reason for the impeachment of Hon. Olakunle Oluomo as the speaker of the Ogun State Parliament has been uncovered by Ogun state assembly lawmaker representing Obafemi Owode constituency, Soneye Kayode. According to Kayode, Oluomo’s reign as the leader of the parliament was marred by corruption and other illegal activities. He went on to recount how the impeached speaker would receive monetary memos from the governor meant for lawmakers and embezzle it for himself. The impeachment took place during a plenary session, with 18 out of the 26 assembly members voting to remove Oluomo from the speaker’s position. Subsequently, Oludaisi Elemide was chosen as the new speaker. Kayode emphasized that the impeachment was based on allegations related to financial misappropriation. He asserted that assembly members were reluctant to choose Oluomo as the speaker, but the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership insisted on his selection due to his experience. The lawmaker further alleged that Oluomo misappropriated funds intended for state legislators.
The reasons for Oluomo’s impeachment were also covered by TheCable, where Kayode stated, “The situation is that Oluomo will go everywhere; he will come to us as members and tell us that the governor has not approved any money… that we should manage things. We kept managing. We later found out that the governor had been giving us money. He takes a memo to the governor and gets money but siphoned our money.” Kayode also clarified that removing Oluomo from office is unrelated to Dapo Abiodun, the state governor, emphasizing that the governor refrains from meddling in legislative matters. He urged Oluomo to concentrate on addressing the money laundering charges brought against him. In September 2022, Oluomo faced apprehension by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of financial misconduct at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Following this, he was brought to the EFCC’s Lagos office for interrogation after reportedly disregarding the commission’s summons. After the arrest, Oluomo and three others were presented before the federal high court in Lagos on an 11-count charge, encompassing allegations of conspiracy, forgery, and money laundering, totalling N2.475 billion. The EFCC asserted that the former speaker misappropriated these funds from the Ogun State House of Assembly. In another report, a former state chairman of Nigeria’s main opposition party, the PDP, Engineer Bayo Dayo, resigned from the party and joined the ruling APC, crediting President Bola Tinubu and Governor Dapo Abiodun for his decision to join the APC.
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