AKURE, Ondo State — A fresh crisis has rocked the Ondo State House of Assembly as lawmakers alleged that the legislature has held only four plenary sittings in the past seven months, raising concerns over compliance with the constitutional requirement for legislative sittings.
The lawmakers accused the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji, of deliberately limiting plenary sessions, a development they say has affected the Assembly’s ability to effectively discharge its constitutional responsibilities.
According to some lawmakers who spoke anonymously, the Speaker has allegedly adopted a pattern of delaying plenary whenever disagreements arise among members, allowing tensions to subside before reconvening the House.
“We have had only four plenary sittings since January. We are not on recess, yet the House has hardly sat. Whenever there are issues, the Speaker simply refuses to call plenary until weeks later,” one lawmaker alleged.
Another member claimed that legislative activities had also been disrupted toward the end of last year, stating that disagreements among members frequently resulted in prolonged inactivity.
The allegations come amid an ongoing leadership crisis in the Assembly, where some lawmakers are reportedly pushing for the Speaker’s removal over allegations relating to the unilateral reordering of the ₦9.2 billion Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) budget and the alleged mismanagement of ₦44 million. The Speaker has denied the allegations.
Reacting to the controversy, the Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution and Information, Hon. Olatunji Fabiyi, explained that only the Speaker has the authority to convene plenary sittings, while the Majority Leader is empowered to convene parliamentary meetings.
Fabiyi disclosed that members of the Assembly recently met with the Speaker and advised him to resign voluntarily, claiming he no longer enjoys the confidence of the majority of lawmakers.
The lawmakers also argued that the Assembly’s limited plenary sittings could amount to a breach of Section 104 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides that a State House of Assembly shall sit for not less than 181 days in a legislative year.
Responding to the allegations, Speaker Oladiji dismissed the claims as baseless and challenged his critics to provide evidence.
He maintained that parliamentary meetings are statutory and form part of the Assembly’s official legislative activities, stressing that legislative work is not limited to plenary sessions alone.
The Speaker further explained that the frequency of plenary sittings is largely influenced by the volume of executive bills transmitted to the House.
“The executive is responsible for sponsoring most of the bills considered by the House. Many of our legislative activities involve processing executive bills, whether they are amendments to existing laws or new legislation,” he said.
The unfolding dispute has intensified tensions within the Ondo State House of Assembly, with political observers closely watching how the leadership crisis will affect legislative activities and governance in the state.
