Adedokun Waliyu 
The Ogun State House of Assembly has suspended until further notice the former deputy speaker, Dare Kadiri, and his Remo North counterpart, Solomon Osho.
The speaker of the Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, announced the suspension of the duo during a plenary session on Tuesday at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The Speaker and Mr Kadiri have been at each other’s throats since the latter was suspended from the House.
Mr Kadiri had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the alleged financial irregularities in the House.
The speaker is currently standing trial over alleged financial misappropriation running into over N2.5 billion public funds.
During the plenary section, the suspension followed the adoption of a resolution that the duo had breached the assembly’s power and privilege, during a plenary presided over by the Speaker.
According to the Speaker, “Order 6, Rule 19 (2) says that whereof a matter of privilege arises, it shall be taken into consideration immediately; in the note of that, I want to say that I received a resolution by appropriate number of members of this house raising issue of Privileges and it read thus”, Resolution 131/ OG/ 2022- suspension of some honourable members for the breach of the provision of the Legislative Houses (Power and Privileges) Act, 2015.
“Having been found to have severally and contentiously breached the Rights and Privileges of the Ogun State House of Assembly and its Leadership, through violation of the provisions of Section 17 of Legislative Houses (Power and Privileges) Act, 2017.
After his release by the court last week, in a statement, the Speaker described Mr Kadiri’s petition to the EFCC, as “hyperbolic.”
Mr Kadiri responded by telling the speaker to leave him out of his travail instead, he should rather beg God for forgiveness.
Mr Osho said he didn’t commit any offence and maintained that his suspension is unexplainable.
“I didn’t commit any offence, I don’t consider the suspension as anything tangible. No due process was followed, I was not given a fair hearing. The Speaker just came and announced that two honourable members are being suspended until further notice without reading out the charges or the offences committed.”
Asked if he will be dragging the Assembly to court, Mr Osho said: “Of course, I’m a lawyer and I know what to do. Basically what they are saying is that the former Deputy Speaker wrote a petition against him to the EFCC, so he is trying to fight back, just like they say, when you fight corruption, corruption fights back.
But what is happening is between him and the former Deputy Speaker it has got nothing to do with me, there was no time whatever either publicly or privately supported anyone. I have the right to hold the Speaker accountable and to be transparent to me which I have not even demanded. We have not even done that, we have not even demanded that, since he came back from the EFCC, this is the first time we are having our official sitting and there was no meeting at all to allow me to ask questions.
It was also gathered that none of the two suspended members appeared before a committee to defend themselves before their suspension.
Efforts to speak with the impeached deputy speaker were unsuccessful as he didn’t pick up his calls or reply to a text message sent to his line.
