16—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019 ONDO HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY SNAKE SAGA: The true story By Dayo Johnson, Regional Editor, South West. THE battle l<strong>in</strong>e has been drawn and if noth<strong>in</strong>g is done urgently, the peace of the graveyard <strong>in</strong> the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressive Congress may further be ruptured. The 26 legislators <strong>in</strong> the State House of Assembly are at dagger drawn with the head of the executive arm of government, Rotimi Akeredolu a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who seems to be a cat with many lives. As he battles with some forces with<strong>in</strong> and outside the state to reta<strong>in</strong> his seat ahead of 2020 governorship election, he is aga<strong>in</strong> confronted with another <strong>in</strong>-house tango, this time with a vital arm of government, the legislature. However, the governor may w<strong>in</strong> this fight with the lawmakers because the members of the assembly don’t have the courage to fully take on the governor headlong. Many of them have capitulated without the knowledge of their r<strong>in</strong>g leaders. Why lawmakers hatched the plan The leadership of the assembly believed the plan was fool proof but unknown to many, there are fifth columnists amongst them who are the eyes of the executive. The plan was to arm twist the governor who they have concluded was frugal <strong>in</strong> spend<strong>in</strong>g money and has refused to release funds to them for the renovation of their deplorable chambers constructed <strong>in</strong> 1976. Some members of the th<strong>in</strong>k tank <strong>in</strong> the leadership of the assembly reportedly met and decided that the only way to make the governor release funds for the renovation was to cook up the story of snake <strong>in</strong>vasion of the chambers and the collapse of the ceil<strong>in</strong>g dur<strong>in</strong>g plenary. When the plan was tabled before other members, they embraced it and few of them who were still nurs<strong>in</strong>g the grudge on the alleged imposition of the speaker, Hon Bamidele Oloyelogun by the governor saw this as an opportunity to embarrass the governor and the state hence they encouraged the leaders to go ahead with the plan. Reports had it that the governor was <strong>in</strong>formed that the snake story was a ruse and a calculated attempt to arm twist him to release funds. Vanguard however gathered that N2m was allocated to the assembly every year for the past ten years for fumigation of the complex while N57m allocation was given to the legislators on monthly basis. The leadership of the assembly believed the plan was fool proof but unknown to many, there are fifth columnists amongst them who are the eyes of the executive Snake <strong>in</strong>vasion, ceil<strong>in</strong>g collapse The leadership of the assembly who believed that they were on the same page with other members called a media brief<strong>in</strong>g and relayed the stories of the snake <strong>in</strong>vasion and the collapse of the termite <strong>in</strong>fested ceil<strong>in</strong>g that almost fell on the head of the speaker dur<strong>in</strong>g plenary. Journalists were conducted round the chambers and showed the ceil<strong>in</strong>g where the snake dropped and landed almost where the maze, the authority of the house was usually placed. The collapsed ceil<strong>in</strong>g close to the seat of the speaker was equally showed to the journalists. Chairman, House committee on <strong>in</strong>formation Hon Gbenga Omole who was mandated to address newsmen on the members’ ordeal said, “When we were about to enter <strong>in</strong>to plenary on Wednesday, a big snake just ran out of the chamber which disrupted our sitt<strong>in</strong>g and we had to hurriedly leave the chamber. “We were about to sit aga<strong>in</strong> today ( Thursday) when the ceil<strong>in</strong>g caved <strong>in</strong> directly where Mr Speaker was sitt<strong>in</strong>g, the whole house was agitated and when we looked around we saw the damage the termite had done to most of the woodwork <strong>in</strong> the ceil<strong>in</strong>g. At that po<strong>in</strong>t, we had to adjourn the sitt<strong>in</strong>g. That chamber is no longer safe for legislative bus<strong>in</strong>ess and because of that, we decided to adjourn <strong>in</strong>def<strong>in</strong>itely. The house will be go<strong>in</strong>g on an <strong>in</strong>def<strong>in</strong>ite recess.” As usual, the report went viral, even the CNN reported that snake chased out legislators dur<strong>in</strong>g plenary which forced them to adjourn <strong>in</strong>def<strong>in</strong>itely. It was the headl<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> major newspapers. The legislators threw banters and were happy after the reports hit the headl<strong>in</strong>es that they had achieved their purpose and that the governor would have no choice now that the matter had gone viral than to play ball. But they got it wrong as the fake snake story had been leaked to him by some of his trusted allies <strong>in</strong> the assembly. However, while the plan was be<strong>in</strong>g hatched, Governor Akeredolu was away <strong>in</strong> Abuja to show solidarity with the m<strong>in</strong>isterial nom<strong>in</strong>ee, Tayo Alasoadura who appeared before the Senate. Governor Akeredolu fumes The embarrass<strong>in</strong>g reports hit him hard that <strong>in</strong>stead of head<strong>in</strong>g to the Government House on arrival on Friday, Akeredolu stormed the assembly complex fum<strong>in</strong>g and expressed displeasure over the lies by the members to embarrass him and his government. Like a school teacher scold<strong>in</strong>g his pupils, Akeredolu lambasted the legislators for ly<strong>in</strong>g about the <strong>in</strong>vasion of the chambers by snake. He accused the lawmakers of blackmail<strong>in</strong>g him and his adm<strong>in</strong>istration and an attempt to hoodw<strong>in</strong>k the unsuspect<strong>in</strong>g members of the public about the happen<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> the Assembly. Akeredolu said “Did you see any green snake here? You said snake chased you out of this place and that you adjourned s<strong>in</strong>e-die. How did you comb<strong>in</strong>e what happened here yesterday with your snake if it is not a grand connivance by yourselves? How did you come about snake yesterday and day before yesterday? How did you comb<strong>in</strong>e it and you said snake fell on your head? The media took your po<strong>in</strong>t and said snake fell on you and you all kept quiet. This House has stayed here for several years. If termites go <strong>in</strong>to this place and eat it, no doubt unless you treat this place for termite, it will fall down. “What I have come to do is to verify what has happened. I have seen that what has happened is that there is an attempt to blackmail the state and I th<strong>in</strong>k the government will not take it. I was given the facts and I want to be sure that the Speaker and that most of the officers are here. “No snake fell here yesterday or day before yesterday, they were not sitt<strong>in</strong>g when the ceil<strong>in</strong>g came down. They only met the ceil<strong>in</strong>g that it came down. It was not that they were sitt<strong>in</strong>g. And all the pictures that were put up there are fake. There was no sitt<strong>in</strong>g; the ceil<strong>in</strong>g did not collapse while they were sitt<strong>in</strong>g. How did you come about that story? How did you come about one giant snake or python; it does not exist here. How did you come about it? “There is an attempt to blackmail the government and I don’t believe that is the best approach. This is an arm of government and they have their vote and what they are entitled to is the one we give them. This place is termite <strong>in</strong>vested and certa<strong>in</strong>ly, the termites have been dwell<strong>in</strong>g here for several years. We have just come for two years; there is no way termites’ <strong>in</strong>festation <strong>in</strong> two years would cause such destruction. Someth<strong>in</strong>g is wrong, this place has not been ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed and members of the House have always been here, what have they done about the ma<strong>in</strong>tenance of this place? If they have not been concerned about it, we have to sit down at the table and work th<strong>in</strong>gs out. After the governor’s outburst that Friday, the spokesperson for the assembly, Gbenga Omole vowed that the legislators would not be <strong>in</strong>timidated by the governor and threatened that the N30b loan request of the governor would be put <strong>in</strong> abeyance until their demand for a better and conducive environment to carry out their legislative duties was put <strong>in</strong> place by the governor. Lawmakers threaten not to approve N30b loan Omole who was respond<strong>in</strong>g to the governor’s allegation that the members of the assembly were out to blackmail him and his adm<strong>in</strong>istration denied that they were out to blackmail the governor as he alleged. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to him “They want to borrow money now. I am a member of the Appropriation Committee. “They want to borrow N30 billion, but if they fail to do what we want, we will not allow that to happen. Out of the money, they said they want to repair the Accountant General’s office, but they don’t want to repair the <strong>in</strong>dependent arm of government. It is not go<strong>in</strong>g to happen. The worst is that they will not give us second term but we will do what the people of Ondo State like. “The truth of the matter is that, that place needs attention. The way they merged the issue of snake with the collapsed part of the build<strong>in</strong>g is the issue. The termites have eaten the roof of the build<strong>in</strong>g. The governor accused us of blackmail, why is it that the past leadership of the House has not done anyth<strong>in</strong>g about it. Every year they put renovation of the Assembly <strong>in</strong> the budget and it was not implemented. The executive br<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> budget and you passed it. The place where the budget is passed is termite <strong>in</strong>fested. “It is not go<strong>in</strong>g to be bus<strong>in</strong>ess as usual. That is my own stand as the spokesperson of the House. Do they not repair their own offices? There was a snake on Wednesday. On Thursday when we were about to sit, we discovered termites have eaten the roof. The question is that, termite did not start eat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the last two years. It has been the failure of the leadership of the House <strong>in</strong> the past Assembly. “The truth is that they will give them small money and they will pass the budget, the one that concern them will not be addressed. We are not go<strong>in</strong>g to take that this time around. “We cannot, because we are friends to the governor, not say the truth, they repair their offices. Let us expose the leadership of the House, the Speaker said money is voted for the renovation every year, but it is not backed with cash. They did not release money for repair, yet you pass their budgets. Rather than abate, the legislators fired aga<strong>in</strong> at an urgent parliamentary meet<strong>in</strong>g held at the Speaker’s Lodge declar<strong>in</strong>g that they “would not waiver <strong>in</strong> their responsibility as the representatives of the people of the state” and “<strong>in</strong>sist<strong>in</strong>g on “total autonomy of the legislative arm of government for proper function<strong>in</strong>g. The Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Bamidele Oloyeloogun presided over the meet<strong>in</strong>g, while the communique was read by Hon Success Torukerijo. The legislators lamented that the Assembly complex was <strong>in</strong> a state of dilapidation and needed urged renovation. It is pitiable that the Ondo State House of Assembly is the worst <strong>in</strong> terms of <strong>in</strong>frastructure <strong>in</strong> the whole country. It will also <strong>in</strong>terest the public to know that the office of the speaker and the deputy speaker have no official cars. We reiterate the constitutional status of the legislature as an <strong>in</strong>dependent arm of government which therefore deserve to be accorded as such. “We want to state without any equivocation that no fund has been released to the Assembly for the capital projects <strong>in</strong> the last five years, <strong>in</strong> spite of the yearly budgetary provision and there has not been any cash-back<strong>in</strong>g for the renovation of the Assembly for the past 10 years. They lamented that “the previous adm<strong>in</strong>istrations <strong>in</strong> the state had failed to release money for the renovation of the complex. Not done the legislators accused the government of doctor<strong>in</strong>g the video tape of the event that happened when the governor <strong>in</strong>spected the Assembly complex after the snake appearance to ridicule them. PDP reacts Meanwhile, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party <strong>in</strong> the state <strong>in</strong> a statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Zadok Ak<strong>in</strong>toye criticised the governor for portray<strong>in</strong>g the lawmakers as his “cowardly, <strong>in</strong>effectual and m<strong>in</strong>dless errand boys. Ak<strong>in</strong>toye said “Mr Governor, you were way out of l<strong>in</strong>e. You were completely out of order. You carried your authority too far and abused what should be the member’s natural <strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>ation to respect you as a leader. You abused your authority. Perhaps you do not realize it: You and these 26 members are the only ones who truly carry the mandate of the People. The people, it was, who trooped out to elect them as they did you too. To speak to them so condescend<strong>in</strong>gly and so demean<strong>in</strong>gly portrays you as a dictatorial <strong>in</strong>dividual.The Legislature is an arm of government deserv<strong>in</strong>g of respect and honour. “Granted that the manner of the emergence of some of those who are there now may have been undemocratic and that you may have had to pay good money to buy votes for most of them, the truth is that ultimately the people voted for them all <strong>in</strong> much the same way that they voted for you. “You poured expletives on them, ask<strong>in</strong>g them questions like a mean headmaster tell<strong>in</strong>g off an errant pupil. They came out look<strong>in</strong>g that little. Your action has done <strong>in</strong>calculable damage to the <strong>in</strong>tegrity of that <strong>in</strong>stitution. You showed your contempt and utter disda<strong>in</strong> for the leadership and members of the House when you charged <strong>in</strong> there like a bull tell<strong>in</strong>g the whole world that they lied and were only try<strong>in</strong>g to blackmail your government. Ak<strong>in</strong>toye noted that “statesmanship demands that the Governor does not conduct himself <strong>in</strong> such a way to br<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>stitution <strong>in</strong>to such disrepute with the public as you did. With the governorship election com<strong>in</strong>g up next year, political observers argued that the legislators may be danc<strong>in</strong>g to the tunes of some powerful forces with<strong>in</strong> and outside the state who were desperate to deprive Akeredolu a second term <strong>in</strong> office. The question on the lips of the people of the state is who bl<strong>in</strong>ks first, Akeredolu or the 26 legislators?. Time will tell.
SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019 — 17
- Page 1 and 2: C M Y K
- Page 3 and 4: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 5 and 6: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 7 and 8: Probe alleged secret burial of sold
- Page 9 and 10: Four men plead guilty to illegal po
- Page 11 and 12: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 13 and 14: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 15: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 19 and 20: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 21 and 22: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 23 and 24: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 25 and 26: ot d e ns a e n e s . ts I joined r
- Page 27 and 28: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 29 and 30: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 31 and 32: By Chris Onuoha Against the backdro
- Page 33 and 34: SATURDAY Vanguard,AUGUST 3, , 2019
- Page 35 and 36: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 37 and 38: C M Y K They came out in good numbe
- Page 39 and 40: SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
- Page 41 and 42: Our focus now is to increase brand
- Page 43 and 44: Juliet Ebirim 08137897935 juliet.eb
- Page 45 and 46: ton SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 20
- Page 47 and 48: Three August giants in Nigerian Foo