Probable tension overshadowed the premises of the Ogun state House of Assembly, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Tuesday June 13, 2023vas the earlier scheduled inauguration of the 10th legislature was postponed abruptly.
Armed police officials and personnel of the Department of State Security (DSS) were ambiguously present at the entrance of the assembly, screening those allowed into the assembly complex.
The immediate past speaker of the assembly, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, while addressing newsmen noted that the postponement was announced via a platform created for the outgoing and incoming members.
Oluomo however, advised members to await a new date, while calling for calm over the postponement.
Blueprint reports that the postponement cannot be unconnected with the present composition of the assembly which has 19 members-elect belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has nine members.
The intrigues that followed the house inability to form a consensus candidate for the position of Speaker and other principal officers could have necessitated the postponement.
Source revealed that the Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun, had allegedly scheduled a meeting with some members of the assembly to broker peace for his preferred candidate, a move which allegedly met a brick wall.
Meanwhile, a PDP member-elect, Olalekan Adeleye, expressed shock over the postponement of the Inauguration.
Speaking with newsmen at the assembly entrance, Adeleye lamented that no letter was issued for the postponement, saying that no senior management staff was around to talk to them on the reason for the postponement.
“What is happening here this morning is strange. We were in high spirit yesterday, hoping that we will resume here at 9am for our Inauguration.
“To our dismay, we are locked out and we started asking questions what happened and someone called my attention to a WhatsApp message purportedly sent by the Clerk of the House that the Inauguration has been postponed to June 20.
“If at all this is going to happen, there are appropriate ways of communication .
“The notice of this inauguration was sent via a proclamation letter written by the governor that the 10th assembly would start by June 13.
“And if there is going to be postponement, such proclamation letter should be withdrawn followed by another proclamation letter conveying the new date,” he said.
The member-elect who spoke on behalf of other eight PDP members-elect, who were also on ground, added that the sudden postponement was not the best way to start the present legislature.