Ekiti Assembly impeaches Aribisogan, elects first female Speaker
Barely after six days in office, the Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, was on today impeached from office and suspended indefinitely by seventeen (17) lawmakers for blocking the passage of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
Aribisogan was immediately replaced by the Assembly Chief Whip, Olubunmi Adelugba from Emure Constituency, who was unanimously elected new Speaker by all the 17 lawmakers present at a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Hakeem Jamiu.
The oath of office and the oath of allegiance was subsequently administered on Mrs. Adelugba, who became the first female Speaker in the history of the Assembly since return to democracy in 1999.
In the same vein, Mr Gboyega Aribisogan and the six erring lawmakers have been barred from the vicinity of the House of Assembly Complex within the radius of 1.5km radius for their acts which, according to their colleagues, offend the provisions of the House Standing Rules and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The six lawmakers suspended and barred alongside the impeached Speaker are Hon. Tajudeen Akingbolu (Ekiti West 1), Hon. Tope Ogunleye (Ilejemeje), Hon. Ajibade Adeyemi (Moba 1), Hon. Adekemi Balogun (Ado 1), Hon. Yemi Ayokunle (Ekiti Southwest 1) and Hon. Adegoke Olajide (Efon).
The legislative penalties meted out to Aribisogan and six others followed the consideration and adoption of the report of a six-member Adhoc Investigative Committee constituted to look into the circumstances surrounding the non-passage of the 2022 Appropriation Bill which they said could cripple governance in the state.
Jamiu who presided over the plenary until the election of Mrs. Adelugba, had earlier dissolved all existing principal positions and appointed Hon. Johnson Oyekola Bode-Adeoye as the new Leader of Government Business while he also resuscitated the already dissolved Committee on Appropriation.
He added that the axed lawmakers are to hand over properties of government in their possession to the Clerk of the House and anyone of them wishing to be reabsorbed must write a letter of apology to the leadership of the House
Meanwhile the Embattled former Speaker Aribisogan has described his impeachment and suspension of other members as illegal and undemocratic.
He said that the process could truncate democratic process in the state.
