Efforts by President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve the crisis in the Ogun State House of Assembly have ended in a stalemate, with both side refusing to shift ground.



Investigations on Thursday showed that the President met separately with the two factions in Abuja on Wednesday night, as part of efforts to resolve the crises in the House and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party.



Nine members of the House had on Monday impeached the Speaker, Mr. Tunji Egetokun, and suspended 14 of their colleagues. The nine members subsequently appointed Mr. Soyemi Coker as the new speaker.



Our correspondent gathered that members of Egbetokun’s faction, known as Group 15, met with the President on Wednesday after attending a meeting with the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, at the headquarters of the party.



The G-15 meeting, which was attended by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello; the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jibril Martins-Kuye, and a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dave Salako, started at 8pm and ended at midnight.



It was also learnt that the meeting of the rival group was attended by the state governor, Otunba Gbenhga Daniel; the state Chairman of the PDP, Chief Joju Fadairo; and 11 members of the group. The meeting started at 1am and ended at 4:30am on Thursday



A lawmaker, who attended the G-15 meeting, said the division in the state chapter of the PDP and the crisis in the House were among issues discussed.



According to the member, who pleaded anonymity, the President explained why the national leadership of the part had not carried out the harmonisation of the state executive of the party.



The member quoted the President as saying, “The other faction has taken the matter to court and the leaders of the party do not want to disobey a court order.”



He stated that the President condemned the impeachment of Egbetokun and promised that the leaders of the party would ensure that sanity returned to the assembly.



The Chairman of the House Committee on Information under Egetokun, Dr. Tokunbo Oshin, who confirmed the meeting, said, “The attitude of the President is that of a defender of democracy. He said what happened in Ogun State was capable of tarnishing the image of Nigerians in the comity of nations. He directed that the house should return to the status quo before Monday.”



But a member of the rival group said that the President did not direct the House to reverse the removal of Egbetokun and suspension of their 14 colleagues.



The member, who pleaded anonymity, said, “We told the President that we were opposed to the harmonisation of the state executive of the PDP because the other faction was part of the process that led to the emergence of the Fadairo-led executive. The process was witnessed by Senator Ibrahim Mantu from the headquarters of the party. They cannot turn around and reject the process.”



“On the crisis, we explained that what happened on Monday was legal and that it was based on Order 15 of the house’s rules. We added that we formed a quorum, which is nine. The President reasoned with us, because what we did was in the interest of the state.”



One of the pro-Daniel lawmakers, Mr. Fasiu Bakene, who confirmed the meeting, said, “It is not true that the President said the removal of Egbetokun should be reversed. Coker is the authentic speaker. An evening newspaper had on Wednesday afternoon reported that Mr. President berated the governor (Daniel), when our meeting with the President did not start till early Thursday.”



However, a senior member of the PDP told our correspondent on the telephone that the party recognised Egbetokun as the authentic speaker of the assembly.



“The party recognises Egbetokun as the speaker. We are not in support of the actions taken by the Group of 11 lawmakers on Monday.



“We will do our best to reconcile them,” the source, who declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said.



However, Mr. Ike Abonyi, the media aide to the PDP national chairman, declined comments when our correspondent reached him on the telephone.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009103244951

The criminal nine must be under the fetish oath that Daniel and Co.is known for to be able to carry out their selfish act. The deed is only for Daniel and his group alone no more no less. If anyone is in doubt of Daniel’s legacy, let such visit Ota. virtually no access roads within the town, abandoned water project, forceful take over of people’s land at the old GRA etc. Ota bridge saga showed him off as a usurper of people’s rightwe all knew that it was Dimeji not Daniel that did the job.

If the 14 members believe that what the 9 people did is valid why can't they reconvene to suspend the 9 legislators? If they believe that what the 9 people did is not valid then they should carry on as if nothing happened; or they should go to court.  They need to stay ahead of OGD in this game.  They should not expect any magic from Goodluck because the group of 9 is not obliged to obey him.

So what will happen to the bond when finally the 14 members are reinstalled?

vanesa:

So what will happen to the bond when finally the 14 members are reinstalled?

If the action of the G9 was illegal then all the decisions and approvals they granted were illegal. Nevertheless, any diligent investor, underwriter, or partaker in the bond issuance process would take the G9 approval with a pinch of salt.

Pukkah:

If the 14 members believe that what the 9 people did is valid why can't they reconvene to suspend the 9 legislators? If they believe that what the 9 people did is not valid then they should carry on as if nothing happened; or they should go to court.  They need to stay ahead of OGD in this game.  They should not expect any magic from Goodluck because the group of 9 is not obliged to obey him.

I guess the G14 lawmakers listened to us on this thread. They have reconvened and suspended the G9 members!

See this thread: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-513809.0.html reproduced below:

Ogun Assembly Part II: Suspends Titi Oseni, 7 Others
« on: Today at 11:31:16 AM »

Ogun Majority Faction Resurfaces, Suspends Titi Oseni, 7 Others
•Passes vote of no confidence on Daniel
From Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta , 09.14.2010

The leadership crisis rocking Ogun State House of Assembly took another turn yesterday, as Speaker Tunji Egbetokun allegedly suspended by nine lawmakers, resurfaced with the 14 lawmakers in his camp and declared former Speaker of the House and seven others suspended.

Hon. Titi Oseni and Hon. Onasanya Solaja’s seats were also declared indefinitely vacant.
Armed with the mace, the symbol of legislative authority, the Egbetokun faction converged on one primary school auditorium in Terelu Imodi, Ijebu-east Local Government of the state to perform the task.
They first passed a resolution suspending the House rule indefinitely.

The lawmakers resolved that the Group of Nine members along with their elected Speaker Soyemi Coker, and three others namely Edward Ayo-Odugbesan, Tolu Bankole and Abiodun Oluseyi Moses be suspended indefinitely.
However, Musa Moruf, Sunday Kojeku, Adegbesan Joseph and Salmon Adeleke were suspended for three months.

About two weeks ago, the Group of Nine at a location in the state purportedly suspended the 14 lawmakers opposed to Governor Gbenga Daniel and removed Egbetokun as Speaker over allegations of gross misconduct.
They replaced him with Coker representing Odeda state constituency but the move had raised questions as to how the “minority” could remove the “majority”.

The group had also reinstated two of their suspended colleagues, Oseni and Solaja, and then went ahead to approve the N100 billion bond and N26 billion supplementary budget proposed by Daniel but rejected by the Egbetokun-headed leadership of the House.

However, after a week of non-appearance, the majority faction of 14 lawmakers emerged with the resolution to suspend Oseni and Solaja indefinitely and their seats declared vacant in line with Section 109 of the Nigerian Constitution.
The group also passed a vote of no confidence on the governor for allegedly aiding and abetting illegality in the state, mismanaging public funds, sponsoring violence and violent gangs in the state, non-compliance with state laws and the constitution of the country.

Egbetokun said the House also resolved that the state commissioner of police should arrest, prosecute members and others involved in the burglary of the assembly chamber on September 6.
They urged the Inspector-General of Police (IG) and Director of State Security Service (SSS) to beef up security at the assembly complex.

“All purported decisions taken at the illegal sitting of Monday September 6 are hereby declared null and void by the House. The House therefore adjourned sine die,” he added
Contacted to react to the new development last night, the state Commissioner for Information, Hon. Shina Kawonishe, merely said: “We cannot be responding to such loose talk. Are you not aware of the Supreme Court decision and judgment which states unequivocally that any sitting done outside the House of Assembly complex is a nullity.”

SOURCE: http://www.thisdayonline.com/

This party is sure to loose Ogun in 2011