Concerned citizens in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State have said the speakership position in the state should remain within its constituency for political balancing.
Coordinator of the Good Governance Initiative of Nigeria, Seun Okeowo, stated this in a meeting held at Ifo at the weekend.
Okeowo emphasised that while it was the house members’ right to select their leaders, political balance and public representation should also be taken into account.
He described the impeachment of the speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, as a political ploy to expose the Ifo Local Government to their counterparts and harped on how the local government “laid a golden egg for the administration but got nothing in return.”
Okeowo further said: “A lot is considered before the nomination of a new speaker is made. It is important to note that the public interest itself overrides all other interests for the sake of probity, equity, fairness, and justice.
“Let us take a look at 2011–2019, when Rt. Hon. Suraju Adekambi (Yewa North 1) was made speaker of the House. He wasn’t the most qualified or the member with the longest-serving term in the House; he was a first-timer, but for political balancing, he was made speaker since the governor was from Ogun Central, the deputy governor was also from Ogun East, and the senator in Ogun West (Yewa-Awori) came from the Awori block of the Ogun West Senatorial District.
“In the first part of this period, Hon. Adijat Adeleye (Ifo II State Constituency) was returning to the house for the second time in 2011, despite having more legislative exposure. Same with Rt. Hon. Remi Hassan (Odogbolu State Constituency), who was also returning at that same time as a senior member of the Ogun State House of Assembly.
“Again, this whole scenario is seen by many stakeholders in Ifo as a political permutation to naked Ifo local government in front of their counterparts and the entire state when the number three (3) position is for the Ifo slot, which has two constituencies, while the governorship and deputy governorship positions are retained in Ikenne and Ado-Odo/Ota, respectively, till 2027. That’s a pure imbalance of political power, especially when the local government where the allegedly new speaker hails from has the current senator, Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, and in the past has produced a senator (Sen Gbenga Obadara), unlike Ifo Local Government, which always lays the golden egg but gets nothing in return until now.
“Odeda Local Government also controls the state party chairmanship position for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Political power, when not properly balanced, breeds the opposite of fairness, justice, and equity, which can lead to unrest. It is a known fact that this is the first time Ifo will have the exalted position of speakership, and it shouldn’t elude us because an impeachment was served or made when Ifo still has a proud son who could stand up to the position of that leadership. If there were no alternative to this, there wouldn’t have been a need for this epistle. It is also important to let people know that the allegedly impeached speaker hasn’t been served with an impeachment notice following the allegation of his impeachment.”
