Ondo Assembly Under Fire, As Lawmakers Move to Impeach the Speaker
By Olusegun HOSEA, 26th June, 2026.
There is intense agitation going on among members of the Ondo State House of Assembly over the move to remove the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Olamide Adesanmi Oladiji, over allegations of misleading members of the House. Oladiji represents Ondo East Constituency and has served as Speaker since 4 June 2023. Speaking, the spokesperson of the House, Olatunji Fabiyi, in his release alleged that higher authorities were blocking their efforts to remove the Speaker from his position. According to the spokesperson of the House, the Speaker had been given seven days to step down before they finally effected their plan of impeachment. He said, “We still have seven days to go because I have the opinion that the government is calling some members and telling them that they should backpedal on the issue of impeachment.”
The House alleged that the Government has an interest in the matter. The spokesperson reiterated that 21 lawmakers had signed the impeachment against the Speaker, but the higher authorities were still restraining them from going further. In his words, “So I don’t know the special interest that Mr. Governor is having.”
Speaking further, the spokesperson said, “21 members have signed an impeachment against Mr. Speaker.” He explained that, “To me, I don’t know the interest of Mr. Governor, unless the government is telling us that they have something in common.” In another development, the House alleged that the Government was backing the Speaker for misbehaving in his rulings. He said, “Maybe it’s the person that saddled him with the responsibility of behaving in that way. So if he doesn’t have anything of that nature, I see no reason. And he himself and the Deputy Speaker committed that error.” The House, according to the spokesperson, Hon. Olatunji Fabiyi, said they have resolved not to go back on their resolution. “No going back. Yes, that’s the resolution of members.”
However, the spokesperson said that he had spoken to the Governor to let him know that the House doesn’t have any grudge against him but against their leadership. He said, “So, I see no reason why somebody should be backing him at this level. I have spoken to Mr. Governor already. And we have made it very clear to Mr. Governor that we don’t have anything against him, other than that we don’t want our leadership.” The spokesperson claimed that the Speaker was imposed on them, even though they had resolved to remove him. “So there is no reason why somebody should continue to perpetuate himself over us when we don’t want him again. It’s a simple thing.” He said the issue was the internal affairs of the House, not an executive issue. He said, “It’s exclusively a private affair of the House. It’s not an executive affair. If there is no hidden agenda, I see no reason why Mr. Governor should be protecting one Speaker. And if there is a hidden agenda, let him say it to the whole world now.” He said, “It’s the statutory right of the House members unless he doesn’t want the peace of that House. Somebody is leading us and is leading us astray. And we say we don’t want him again. Mr. Governor should just allow peace to reign in the House by allowing Mr. Speaker to step aside.” He went further to say that, “It is the resolution of the whole House that Mr. Speaker should go.” The spokesperson said he thought that the Governor was pleading for seven days for him, before realizing that he was asking for 14 days, not seven days. In his words, “At the initial stage, we thought it was seven days that Mr. Governor requested from us, but it is clear to us that he begged for 14 days, not seven days. So the 14 days will last till next Sunday,” he said.
Reacting to the allegations, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, said that “Mr. Governor has nothing to do with what is happening in the House of Assembly and he has not prevented members from carrying out their legislative duties.” He said the Governor is interested in creating peace, law, and order. “Mr. Governor’s interest is in promoting peace, law, and order. He is not stopping lawmakers from performing any of their legitimate responsibilities.” For now, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olamide Adesanmi Oladiji, is under the fire of impeachment.
