Bearing any changes, lawmakers in the Oyo state House of Assembly are expected to sit today during plenary in fear and trepidation.
The 32 Oyo lawmakers will resume plenary today ( Wednesday) after a Sallah break.
It will be recalled, that Westerndailynews.com had reported how 11 lawmakers wrote a petition to the state governor to register their grievance against the leadership of the Assembly speaker, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin.
This news platform also included in the report, the likely decision of the Assembly to suspend 11 lawmakers who had been tagged for challenging the authority.
According to multiple sources, it was stated that the factionalized lawmakers were initially 17 but six trickled out as a result of fear of the unknown.
Though the speaker, Ogundoyin, and his loyal assembly members remain calm and resolute about the insubordinate attitude of the 11 lawmakers who are all first-timers, Westerndaynews.com continues to gather from various reliable sources that the 11 erring lawmakers have been listed to pay for what they have priced.
While speaking with some sources, it was gathered that the lawmakers’ plenary, to be held today is full of suspense as none of the listed lawmakers can predict the speaker’s decision, following dispositions on his leadership.
While some of the sources who spoke with Westerndailynews.com claimed that, the lawmakers can’t escape suspension following their actions against Rt. Hon. Debo Ogundoyin, some said the speaker is a magnanimous leader and would rather rejig the House outstanding committee to release the tagged lawmakers from the juicy committee positions.
A source who is close to the party at the state level said, ” His Excellency did not instruct Ogundoyin to suspend any lawmaker for wrongdoing but, the governor’s body language shows he still trusts and is satisfied with the leadership of the speaker of the House.
” Lawmakers are right to cross-check and query the leader of the house and it is the legislative right of the Speaker also to expel, suspend, and remove from committee if any lawmaker or lawmakers is caught working against the House decision and rules. so it is at the discretion of the Speaker not to punish alleged erring members, not the governor as you quoted in your last publication.”
Another source who is close to some of the lawmakers who also prefer to be anonymous said, they (lawmakers) will resume tomorrow (Today) if not changed, and one thing is sure, either Debo suspended the 11 lawmakers or he removed them from House Committee, all I know is, one of the two is sure unless many other things happened overnight. some of the accused lawmakers have been lobbying, begging for forgiveness but Rt. Hon. is not available to listen to any of them.
However, some groups and individuals have reacted to the ongoing issue among the Oyo state lawmakers, urging the assembly speaker not to land a stick on the 11 lawmakers after being caught in the act.
One of the groups, an Ibadan-based sociopolitical group, Vanguard for the Defence of the Rule of Law(VDRL), cautioned Debo Ogundoyin from suspending the accused 11 members of the state legislature.
According to the group, it cited various court rulings against the suspension of lawmakers in Nigeria. The group gave the court ruling in ” Dino Melaye and Ors v House of Representatives, Ovie Omo-Agege v the Senate that a member cannot be suspended as same would amount to denying his constituency their rights of representation.
It also cited the famous case of Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly v Hon Rifkatu Samson Danna (2017) 49 W.R.N, which is the locus classicus on suspension lawmakers in Nigeria. The group stated that the Court of Appeal made it expressly clear that the relationship between a Member of the House and the House is not that of a master-servant relationship, instead the Member is a representative of the people whose membership of the House is guaranteed by the Constitution and no other person or persons.
Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Oyo State, Michael Okunlade, also reacted to the Oyo state House of Assembly imbroglio, advised Rt. Hon. Ogundoyin on the issue, Okunlade, said that the lawmakers who are opposed to the leadership style of the speaker of the state assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, made a mistake by briefing the governor before questioning him.
Okunlade, who was majority of the assembly between 2007 and 2011 when he represented the Orelope state constituency, explained that “when a leader acts as an errand boy for the governor, they may forget their role is to be first among equals.”
” Any house member has the right to question the leadership for misconduct, and it is equally unparliamentary to write a petition to the governor before taking a lawful action’. Oyo SDP chair.
Moreover, the Oyo state PDP forum of Female Politicians has also appealed to the Speaker of the House, Ogundoyin to rescind his alleged plan to Suspend 11 Lawmakers.
The forum of PDP Female Politicians in Oyo state issued their reaction to the issue surrounding the leader of the House and the lawmakers.
As things stand, all hands are on deck, waiting for the plenary session of the 10th assembly this morning, a sitting where the fate of the alleged 11 members will be determined or action overlooked
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