The Minority Leader, Osun State House of Assembly, Kofoworola Adewunmi has accused the Speaker, Timothy Owoeye of maltreatment towards members of the opposition party in the House.
EyewitnessMedia gathered that Koforola who represents Ede North, alleged that his attempt to move a motion on the deplorable condition of roads in his constituency was frustrated by the speaker.
He added that as a principal officer of the Assembly, he, and other Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers have been blocked on various occasions from meeting the State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, including at the official event.
Kofoworola in a statement made available to journalists in Osogbo on Tuesday, lamented that, “Aside the motion that I have not been able to move, it will interest you to know that I submitted a Bill, and for like four months now, it is yet to be mentioned, not to talk of taken through the legislative process. Why we are getting such treatment is what we don’t understand.
“It is correct that I’m the opposition leader in the House but the experience so far has been a disturbing one,” Hon. Kofoworola said, explaining that he was at a point denied access to a meeting of Principal Officers in the House because of his party.
“It was the day when Governor Gboyega Oyetola signed the 2021 appropriation bill into law. After the usual ceremony and Governor Oyetola done putting his signature, there was a need for Principal Officers in the House to meet the Governor and talk,” he pointed out.
“As the opposition leader and a Principal Officer, I moved forward to join others but I was turned back and to my consternation, the reason given to me was that only Principal Officer who are from the APC are allowed. It was so unbelievable but it actually happened and no one can defend that in a democracy– there is a reason why Minority Leader is considered a Principal Officer.”
However, the Speaker, Timothy Owoeye described the allegations as laughable saying the minority leader has a lot to learn as a newcomer to the assembly.
In a statement by his media aide, Kunle Alabi, Owoeye said all the lawmakers have met with the Governor on various occasions without exemption, adding that after the signing of the budget every principal officer went their separate ways.
“On the issue of budget signing, all the principal officers of the Assembly present graced the occasion without let or hindrance, after the ceremony, everyone departed to their various personal destinations.
“For every private member-sponsored bill, it is the tradition of the House to send such bill to the Legal/bill drafting department in the Assembly to collaborate with the state ministry of Justice to ensure that we are not duplicating laws. The Legal/bill drafting department and the ministry will have to satisfy it for it to go through the normal process on the floor of the Assembly.
“One wonders if the Minority leader is abreast of happenings in his home town or probably playing politics with the issue of road. It is in the news when Governor Oyetola inaugurated 20km Ejigbo-Ara-Ojo-Ede road; 2.1km Ede township roads.
“Assuming without conceding that the Minority leader asked that the PDP members be taken to the governor by the Speaker, is this not laughable when ordinary citizens have been approaching the governor? Do they need the permission of the Speaker as citizens and stakeholders in the state to see the governor?
“It should be put on record that the House as a whole had met with the governor on different occasions with the opposition members in attendance.
“The Minority leader as a first-timer is still learning and will soon understand to the fullest the procedures of law-making, the 7th Assembly under the watch of Owoeye will be more committed to training and retraining in the new year for efficiency and proper understanding of legislative processes,” he said.
