Ondo Assembly Crisis: Speaker safe for now as APC begs 24 lawmakers to sheathe sword

— Why we intervened — APC
— We’ve lost confidence in his leadership — Aggrieved member

The impeachment plot against the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji, may have been suspended following the intervention of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Vanguard gathered that 24 of the 26 lawmakers had backed the move to impeach the Speaker over alleged financial misconduct.

The party leadership met with the aggrieved lawmakers over the weekend and prevailed on them to suspend the impeachment bid and sheath their swords.

The lawmakers had insisted that Oladiji should resign or be impeached over allegations involving about ₦44 million allegedly linked to the reordering of the budget of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC).

While some lawmakers accused the governor of shielding the Speaker, the state government has maintained that the disagreement is an internal matter of the legislature.

Oladiji has also denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated by lawmakers who failed to secure re-election after the party’s primaries.

Sources at the meeting told Vanguard that the party persuaded the lawmakers to maintain the status quo.

“The meeting was basically to appeal to both sides to calm down. The party does not want the matter to escalate beyond what it is at the moment,” a source said.

“The position for now is that the status quo should remain while the leadership continues with consultations.”

According to the source, the lawmakers were asked not to take further steps until the party concludes its intervention.

“They were asked to sheath their swords for now. Nobody was told that the issues they raised had been swept under the carpet. The party simply wants everybody to allow the mediation process to continue.”

The source, however, noted that the intervention did not mean the lawmakers had abandoned their grievances.

“The impeachment matter has not been withdrawn. What happened is that there is now a window for political intervention. The party wants to see whether the issues can be resolved without allowing the House to go into another round of confrontation.”

A party member said the immediate objective was to prevent the disagreement from degenerating into a full-blown political crisis ahead of the 2027 elections.

“What the party is trying to achieve is peace first. The status quo remains. The Speaker remains in office, and the lawmakers are expected to hold their fire while the leadership engages all the parties,” he said.

He cautioned that the temporary truce should not be interpreted as a final resolution.

“There are still issues that must be addressed. The lawmakers have their grievances, and those grievances cannot simply disappear because of one meeting. The leadership has to find a lasting solution.”

Efforts to get comments from the lawmakers were unsuccessful.

One of them, however, insisted that the intervention would not save the Speaker, declaring that they had lost confidence in his leadership.

According to him, “We are just biding our time and, out of respect for the leadership of the party, we have decided to listen to them. We have not abandoned the impeachment plan.” (Vanguard)