The Ondo State House of Assembly has been thrown into a fresh leadership crisis, with 21 of its 26 lawmakers reportedly refusing to attend plenary until Speaker Olamide Oladiji resigns over allegations surrounding the alteration of the ₦9.2 billion 2025 budget of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC).
The lawmakers have declared an indefinite boycott of plenary and warned that Oladiji would be impeached if he refuses to step aside.
The position of the lawmakers was disclosed on Monday in Akure by the spokesperson for the Assembly, Olatunji Ifabiyi, who said the majority of members had already agreed that the Speaker should leave office.
Ifabiyi said 21 of the 26 lawmakers had signed a resolution calling for Oladiji’s removal over allegations that he unilaterally reordered the OSOPADEC 2025 budget without the approval of the House.
“We have resolved not to hold a plenary until there is a change of Speaker. For now, there is no development except that Mr. Speaker should just give way and allow another person to preside over the Ondo State House of Assembly,” Ifabiyi said.
“If he doesn’t resign, we will impeach him. If he fails to do the needful, we will do the needful,” he added.
The dispute centres on allegations that Oladiji altered the structure of the ₦9.2 billion OSOPADEC budget without legislative approval, a development that has reportedly angered a large majority of the lawmakers.
It was reported that the crisis has widened divisions within the Assembly and brought legislative proceedings to a standstill, as the lawmakers insist they will not return to plenary until the leadership dispute is resolved.
However, a principal officer of the Assembly, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said the Ondo State Government had intervened to mediate in the crisis.
According to the lawmaker, a peace meeting involving the state executive was held on Sunday, although those involved agreed not to disclose details of the discussions.
“There was a peace deal brokered yesterday (Sunday) with the executive, and we are not permitted to disclose details of the outcome of the meeting,” the principal officer said.
“I don’t want to be the first to breach the agreement. But I can tell you that the matter has been resolved, but I will not tell you if it was in favour of anybody.”
“We are going to hold a plenary soon,” the source added.
Ifabiyi, however, said he was unaware of any meeting between the lawmakers and the state executive to resolve the impasse.
He also declined to say when the Assembly would resume plenary, maintaining that the lawmakers’ position remained unchanged until there was a change in leadership.
The Assembly spokesperson further disclosed that allegations of an assassination attempt on one of the lawmakers had been reported to security authorities for investigation. He, however, did not identify the affected lawmaker or provide further details.
The latest crisis follows earlier allegations by Hon. Olawumi Fayemi-Obayelu, representing Ilaje Constituency II, against Speaker Olamide Oladiji over an alleged forged legislative resolution purportedly used to alter the 2025 OSOPADEC budget.
Fayemi-Obayelu had also alleged that she and the other lawmaker representing the Ilaje constituencies were deliberately excluded from an ad hoc committee set up to consider the Commission’s budget, despite her position as Vice Chairman of the House Committee on OSOPADEC.
It was further reported that Fayemi-Obayelu claimed the House did not sit on the date stated in the disputed resolution and that lawmakers neither debated nor approved the budgetary adjustments attributed to the Assembly.
She described the matter as a serious breach of legislative procedure and called for an independent investigation into the alleged forgery involving budgetary changes running into billions of naira.
According to the lawmaker, the controversy had remained an internal matter for several months before she decided to make the allegations public.
Fayemi-Obayelu said the dispute began during deliberations on the 2025 OSOPADEC budget, when she and the other lawmaker representing the Ilaje constituencies were allegedly excluded from the ad hoc committee set up to consider the budget.
She argued that the exclusion was unusual, particularly because she serves as Vice Chairman of the House Committee on OSOPADEC.