• Mace broken •Hold parallel sessions
•Dissident members suspend Speaker
•Journalists, others tear-gassed
By Moshood Adebayo, Abeokuta
There was commotion in Ogun State House of Assembly yesterday with the symbol of authority, mace, broken. It was the climax of old war among the 26-member House which had been factionalized into groups of G. 15 and G. 11.Only last Thursday, the House was engulfed in a crisis over the composition of the assembly’s tenders board. The principal combatants were the Speaker, Hon. Suraji Adekunbi, three time members, Remi Hassan, Job Akintan and Adijat Adeleye-Oladapo as well as John Obafemi. During the melee, the Speaker suspended four members one one hand, while in retaliation, the suspended members led by Hassan returned to the House and allegedly sent the speaker packing.
It all started after the House reconvened and the motion for suspension of those it considered ‘’dissidents’’ were moved by Hon. Israel Jolaosho, the Majority Leader. Daily Sun observed that the motion had not been seconded when the Speaker,. Adekunbi ratified the motion by banging the gavel on the table after which he rose to the dislike of some members. The Speaker’s action did not go down well with majority of the lawmakers as a female lawmaker supported by another colleague jumped at the mace and smashed it on the ground with security personnel around struggling to salvage it.
The development brought the polarized house into rowdy session as members engaged one another in altercation with the entire House thrown into commotion. Thereafter, Hassan was appointed as the Protem Speaker by his group with a member, Hon. Segun Elemide, moving the motion for the suspension of Hon. Adekunbi. This motion was ratified by the factionalized House which also suspended the Majority Leader, and two others who are sympathetic to the Adekunbi’s leadership.
But in a statement issued later in the day by the House and signed by the ‘’suspended’’ Speaker, and the Clerk of the House, Mr. Muyiwa Adenopo, it officially announced the suspension of Hassan and his members and warned them to keep away from the Assembly’s complex henceforth.The statement noted that the suspension of Hassan, Obafemi, Akintan and Adeleye-Oladapo was based on their various ‘’acts bordering on un-parliamentary behaviour and gross disrespect to the legislative institution.’’ It was a hell of time for newsmen,, as security agents fired tear-gas canister at journalists who had stormed the Assembly complex for the coverage of the event.
•Dissident members suspend Speaker
•Journalists, others tear-gassed
By Moshood Adebayo, Abeokuta
There was commotion in Ogun State House of Assembly yesterday with the symbol of authority, mace, broken. It was the climax of old war among the 26-member House which had been factionalized into groups of G. 15 and G. 11.Only last Thursday, the House was engulfed in a crisis over the composition of the assembly’s tenders board. The principal combatants were the Speaker, Hon. Suraji Adekunbi, three time members, Remi Hassan, Job Akintan and Adijat Adeleye-Oladapo as well as John Obafemi. During the melee, the Speaker suspended four members one one hand, while in retaliation, the suspended members led by Hassan returned to the House and allegedly sent the speaker packing.
It all started after the House reconvened and the motion for suspension of those it considered ‘’dissidents’’ were moved by Hon. Israel Jolaosho, the Majority Leader. Daily Sun observed that the motion had not been seconded when the Speaker,. Adekunbi ratified the motion by banging the gavel on the table after which he rose to the dislike of some members. The Speaker’s action did not go down well with majority of the lawmakers as a female lawmaker supported by another colleague jumped at the mace and smashed it on the ground with security personnel around struggling to salvage it.
The development brought the polarized house into rowdy session as members engaged one another in altercation with the entire House thrown into commotion. Thereafter, Hassan was appointed as the Protem Speaker by his group with a member, Hon. Segun Elemide, moving the motion for the suspension of Hon. Adekunbi. This motion was ratified by the factionalized House which also suspended the Majority Leader, and two others who are sympathetic to the Adekunbi’s leadership.
But in a statement issued later in the day by the House and signed by the ‘’suspended’’ Speaker, and the Clerk of the House, Mr. Muyiwa Adenopo, it officially announced the suspension of Hassan and his members and warned them to keep away from the Assembly’s complex henceforth.The statement noted that the suspension of Hassan, Obafemi, Akintan and Adeleye-Oladapo was based on their various ‘’acts bordering on un-parliamentary behaviour and gross disrespect to the legislative institution.’’ It was a hell of time for newsmen,, as security agents fired tear-gas canister at journalists who had stormed the Assembly complex for the coverage of the event.
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