Iroju Ogundeji, Deputy Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly has been removed by members of the Assembly.
The members, who took the action at the plenary of the House on Tuesday, immediately elected Mr Samuel Aderoboye from Odigbo Constituency 2 as the new Deputy Speaker.
The action of the House comes just as Ogundeji is battling to secure his reinstatement after serving a controversial suspension for about six months.
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The court upturned his suspension and that of three others who were opposed to the stand of the leadership in the botched impeachment plot of the deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi.
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Ogundeji, who represents Odigbo Constituency 2, was impeached following a resolution of the house.
The House led by its Speaker, Bamidele Oleyelogun, accused Ogundeji of “gross misconduct” citing it as the ground for the impeachment. They held that by his conduct he had brought disrepute to the assembly.
It also claimed that 20 lawmakers signed the impeachment proceedings and that it required 18 to form two-thirds of the house.
Speaking about his removal, Ogundeji said the House was engaging in “legislative and parliamentary rascality,” given that they did not have the number of lawmakers to impeach him.
Citing Sections 92 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Ogundeji said the lawmakers were in error and failed to meet the provisions of the constitution.
He argued that the leadership of the house had been plotting to impeach the deputy governor for a while, but could not do so because it lacked the two-third majority required by the constitution to do so.
The Deputy Speaker expressed;
As I speak to you all the nine lawmakers are with me, so how did they get the number to carry out the impeachment?
I remain the deputy speaker of the house because they do not have power to do what they have done.
